Scorn Not the Love Song (Me)

We have an assignment for my poetry class to do some sort of creative response to a poem we read in class this year. I wrote a poetic response to William Wordsworth's "Scorn Not the Sonnet." This is my assignment, basically exactly how I'll turn it in. Enjoy.

Wordsworth, "Scorn Not the Sonnet"

Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned,
Mindless of its just honours; with this key
Shakespeare unlocked his heart; the melody
Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch's wound;
A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound;
With it Camöens soothed an exile's grief;
The Sonnet glittered a gay myrtle leaf
Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned
His visionary brow: a glow-worm lamp,
It cheered mild Spenser, called from Faery-land
To struggle through dark ways; and, when a damp
Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand
The Thing became a trumpet; whence he blew
Soul-animating strains--alas, too few!

Phillis, "Scorn Not the Love Song"

Scorn not the love song; Lover, you have frowned,
Thoughtful of engagements, break-ups; ev’ry
Man or woman whose heart beats lustily,
Surely some other man or woman wounds.
Beyond man’s reach, another love abounds;
With it, I AM soothed an exile’s grief;
The engagements of such love, far from brief.
When on the cross, Christ’s guiltless head was crowned –
His battered, blood-stained brow, His word a lamp –
It cheered me, chief of sinners; when a tramp
Called out, He called back in love, with a Word
Sharper than any double-edgéd sword;
His death heralded life; His life brought peace
To Lovers, Sinners, His mercies increase.

I started with William Wordsworth’s “Scorn Not the Sonnet.” I enjoyed this because it defended a genre that had come under some criticism. As I thought of genres that come under criticism today, I considered Hip Hop, which is misunderstood as just being “rap,” but, my brother has instructed me, is different from rap because it has a positive message. Hip Hop is not about getting money, women, and cars; Hip Hop is about personal growth, loyalty, and standing up to the world.

As I thought about the message of Hip Hop and how to get that across, I realized that there’s an even greater message that needs to be communicated today. The message of God’s love; of the saving grace he offers through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’ve been thinking about a lot of the Christian hymns, and the way we sing, carelessly, joyfully, and with gusto, about the gruesome death that Jesus died on the cross. Not that we shouldn’t sing about it, but we shouldn’t sing lines like “let the water and the blood/from thy riven side which flowed/be of sin the double cure” without thinking about how gross it is for blood and water to flow out of the side of a man’s pierced body.

I also started thinking about the types of love songs that are other there. I came up with a whole “blazon” if you will. There’s the “I just fell in love” song, the “I’m in love but won’t say it” love song, the “You make me nuts and I just wanna break up with you “love song, the “I can’t believe you just broke up with me!” love song, the “don’t you dare break up with me” love song, and the “I’ve been bruised and battered so I ain’t gonna love again” love song. And lots of these love songs are poorly written. Taylor Swift’s recent hit, “Love Story” includes a line that still perplexes me. It’s the story of two young people falling in love against their parents wishes. She sings, “You were Romeo, I was the Scarlet Letter, and my daddy said, ‘Stay away from Juliet.’” I undersand the Romeo and Juliet thing, but what is she doing talkig about the Scarlet Letter? Does she understand that the Scarlet Letter was an “A” and stood for “Adultery” which is generally considered bad?! I think she just threw in another literary reference because her agent said, “We have to get the kids reading, then their parents will buy your albums!” It’s a joke.

So with all that in mind, I set out to create a distinction between the sappy and hurtful love songs that are popular in music today and the source of all love, which is the love that comes from God. As I wrote the sonnet, I used Wordsworth’s as a guide, even borrowed part of a line and several of his rhymes (I don’t think he’ll miss them). But I altered the rhyme scheme in the sestet because there aren’t too many other rhymes for “lamp” and it just so happens that this was one situation when “tramp” is appropriate.