Gus Sayre
Professor Belflower
ENGL 259 Linguistic Architecture
11 April 2021
Blog 8: Blues, Folk Ballad, and Rhythm
The Blues Stanza is perhaps the most classically American form of poetic verse there is. Unlike many of the previous poetic styles, we have discussed, coming from across the globe and being influenced, undoubtedly, by Europe, Blues as a form of poetry finds its roots in rural America. Beginning with farmworkers, known as “field hollerers”, sounding off to pass the endless days as they worked (Exaltation 188), Blues poetry and Folk Ballad soon became very important forms of expression for Rural African Americans, drawing upon influence from African verbal patterns and Hawaiin musical tones, as well as some European influences of course. The uniting factor between blues, the folk ballad, and the concept/tool/nuance of rhythm is their musical properties, no doubt, based on the structure and delivery of their forms.
Blues evolved as a means for those whose voice was small to make their emotions loud and clear. Like music, blues verse and folk ballads often are a clear expression of emotion, leaving the listener [reader] to decide exactly which emotion that may be. (In fact, there is much disagreement as to what a “ballad” is, but most agree that it is musical in some way, but I digress). This can be seen clearly in Shirley Anne William’s poem entitled Any Woman’s Blues.
“every woman is a victim of the feel blues, too.
Soft lamp shinin
and me alone in the night.
Soft lamp shinin
and me alone in the night.
Can’t take no one beside me
need mo’n jest some man to set me right” (Exaltation 194).
In the first line, Williams says that women too are victims of feeling, just like any other human. In a time when women were treated as second class, blues poetry was used to convey emotion that could not otherwise have been understood. Infinitely versatile and endlessly emotional, the musical lines of blues verse have defined their own genre.
Finch, A., & Varnes, K. (2002). An exaltation of forms: Contemporary poets celebrate the diversity of their art. In An exaltation of forms: Contemporary poets celebrate the diversity of their art. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
