3. Taylor Quinn, Assigned Reading, Words and Rhythm, 2/20/11

Taylor Quinn, Assigned Reading, Words and Rhythm, 2/20/11

Van Der Leeuw asks the question “Where does the source of this force lie?” in referring to the power of the Word. He answers his question by saying the “beauty of words does not reside in their meaning, but in their rhythm, in their meter. The words generate a certain power which is fixed, controlled, and concentrated by the rhythm”. It is the beat and the movement of word that gives it its power.

The flow and beauty of word can be most powerfully seen in music that is sung, which is a form of poetry. I can feel this power the most in a song called “Center Aisle” by Derek Webb. He wrote song after he went to his best friends sisters funeral. He sings by himself and the rhythm and the flow of his words paints the image of a funeral. His voice seems to wail like at a mourning ceremony. At one point he says “I’ve been here over 3 hours, behind the flower, so beautiful and young, and so alive and so in need of someone to talk to them, ‘cause theirs our fragile lives”. He speaks of the girls who committed suicide the flow of the words move me by the rhythm.