Rhythm and Blues
The Blues stems from “oral preformance and musical improvisation (Patterson 188).” What started as hollers from field workers in the late nineteenth century South has now evolved into an American poetic form. The blues started as music from the plantation workers, but made its way to juke joints, country fairs, and theaters across the South. The blues is a very lyrical form of poetry. W.C Handy is known as the father of the blues. He invented the classic blue lyric stanza which is, “three lines of iambic pentameter, rhymed Aaa, each with a caesura. The first line makes a statement that is repeated in the second line. The third line provides a rhymed response to the statement (Patterson 188).” Lots of times blues relies on imagery and tone. The blues are known to prevoke very deep emotions. In Oakland Blues written by Ishmael Reed, the rhythm he writes about his fathers death provokes deep emotions. He creates ryhthm through the repetition and rhyme. “Well, they told me of the sickness almost eighteen months ago yes they told me of the sickness almost eighteen months ago you went down fighting daddy. Yes you went down fighting toe to toe (Patterson 193). The Aaa rhyme scheme develops rhythm. The poem is very lyrical, almost like it could be sung.
An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art. Eds. Anne Finch and Katherine Varnes. Ann Arbor: U. of Michigan Press, 2002. 188–198.
