--- David Marine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > As Kate has pointed out, Joni clearly considers herself a poet. And of > course she should. Again, to clarify, ALL lyrics are poetry. Poetry has been > created for thousands of years. It existed long before the written word. > Much of what we consider the best of Elizabethan poetry was chanted or sung. > So was Homer's poetry, etc. > > Maybe it would be better to reformulate the question: do Joni's poems need > to be matched to her melodies in order to retain their beauty and power? To > me, the answer with many of them is a resounding NO. "The Complete Poems and > Lyrics" is the best evidence. >
All this talk about poetry now.... I completely agree David and Kate. Joni's lyrics and I know cause I have done this with people in the past can absolutely be recited as poetry! Too many of you have pigeon-holed all poets, here. There are haikus and sonnets and prose and some that rhyme and others that don't some are concise and concentrated others are totally free form. Have some of you never been to a poetry slam?! Now your opinion on whether it is art or good I do not question. Other have cited Joni lyrics here that absolutely stand alone as poetry. Joni's lyrics - the bulk of her works anyway - can without question be considered poetry and therefore, the Guz declares our Joni a poet. So be it! ;-) In fact before fest this year I believe a few of us here or off line discussed doing recitation of Joni lyrics as poetry. Still think it would be a fun workshop or project. Especially for some of our more theatrical listers/festers. Having known a 2x National Poetry Slam winner, I can tell you they are great story tellers and would never try to be so defining as to eliminate another style or be so biased on what their opinion of poetry is or should be. They just love the art and freedom of expression and our Joni has all that going for her in her poetry - and more! Peace, Susan Yahoo! Mail Plus Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
