Traveling to Japan during this time of year puts you into the heart of Cherry Blossom Season, an annual occurrence throughout the islands. Recently, I traveled from East to West Japan and back again and saw some beautiful samples of the flowering cherry trees, aka Sakura, throughout Japan. Their significance is threefold: (1) they signal the end of winter; (2) they are used in Ikebana – “living flower” arrangements and kado – “the way of flowers;” and, (3) they are a cultural heritage of Japan.
I will be showing you videos of other cultural sites and photos in the weeks to come. Until next time, enjoy this video of Cherry Blossom Season throughout Japan.
NOTES ON THE SONG
Song Title: “Code Blue (Detective Smith’s Song)”
Poetic Forms: Rhyme, Alliteration, Consonance
Of course, everybody knows what a rhyme sounds like – “the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain,” right? We all know what rhymes do; they sound good to us either in a poem, a lyric, or as read to us from a book (think Dr. Seuss.)
But, what is alliteration? Alliterations are groups of words with the same beginning consonant sound. For examples, “Crazy Kitty,” where the “k” consonant sounds are the same, and “Fab Four,” you know, “The Beatles,” (a great musical group, and also a fantastic alliteration!) Alliterations are found not only in poetry, but in advertising, books, comics, movie titles, and such.
Another sonic poetic form is consonance. Consonance is the use of repeating consonant sounds in words on a Line. Consonance includes alliterations, like those described above, (i.e. Fab Four,) and so much more. Consonance’s repeating sounds can be at the beginning, middle, or end of words. For instance, “He vowed never to return” has this repeating sound in the words “vowed” and “never.”
So, what happens when you combine Rhyme, Alliteration and Consonance together in a poem? You cook up a pretty good poem, that’s what. Although you may not consciously realize it, you read poems with these sonic forms together all the time. They sound great and provide a flow to the words and lines.1
LYRICS TO “CODE BLUE (DETECTIVE SMITH’S SONG)”
Verse One:
A mild mannered man
A policeman at a party
Years ago when young
A radio report killed me.2
Chorus: Code Blue, Code Blue
Oh, Code Blue
Verse Two:
All the while walking
Heading towards time
Often stopped short
Now past his prime
Chorus
Bridge:
Married nearly thirty years
Now, bitterness powers these tears
And I’m missing her
Time flashes by in a blur
Alive nearly thirty years
Embittered, powered by fears
Missing, mourning her
Time flashing by in a blur
Verse Three:
It ended one night3
An urn on a shelf
Although long alive
Now a shadow following himself
Chorus
FOOTNOTES:
- Read the Footnotes below to find these poetic forms in the Lyrics. Many examples can be found. ↩︎
- Verse One of the song displays both the rhyme and alliteration poetic forms. There are the rhyming last words of Lines Two and Four, (“party” – “me.”) Alliterations occur in all four lines of the stanza, (“mild mannered man,” “policeman” – “party,” “years” – “young,” and “radio report.”) There are other rhymes and alliterations in the lyrics. ↩︎
- Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in a single line. Line One of Verse Three has consonance with “ended one night” — the “n” repetition is in the middle and beginning of words. Can you find another consonance poetic form in this stanza? (Hint: Look at Line Three.) ↩︎