Music and Poetry: Understanding Have you ever thought about the meanings behind song lyrics or the lines of a poem? Meaning can be debatable, but there can be multiple meanings for one subject. All of which can be correct no matter how similar or dissimilar. Meanings can bring us to a conclusion, and everyone loves a good conclusion! In the song “Hall of Fame” by The Script and the poem “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop they use literary devices and schemes that helps us to better understand the meaning of their work. In both “Hall of Fame” and “The Fish”, imagery is a commonly used literary device. Imagery allows the reader or listener to construct a picture (or image hence “imagery”) in their head. This allows them to get a better perception of what is going on.

Although imagery is used in both of these pieces of work, it is used a little differently. In “Hall of Fame” the use of imagery is not as detailed as used in the poem “The Fish” either way it works. In “The Fish” there is a lot of descriptive details in the lines of the poem such as “And underneath two or three, / rages of green weed hung down” and “The dramatic reds and blacks.” Both of these quotes have a use of color which is a great way to “show” the reader what is being described through words. The first quote though includes a number. This number is telling you specifically how many there is. Not just a number being stated, and the reader being left clueless. While in the song “Hall of Fame” imagery is used in lines “You can be the king kong banging on your chest” and “Be students, be teachers, be politicians.” In the first quotes you are given the character of king kong that is banging on their chest. Through this you will picture a huge gorilla that is pounding on its chest. Then through the second quote, since we all have a depiction of what a student, teacher, and politician look like in our minds that is what you are going to picture. Although the imagery in the poem is a lot more descriptive than in the song you are still able to perceive that image of what is going on in the situation that is provided to them.

Imagery used in poems and songs allows us to fabricate an idea of what is happening. Now whether the imagery is more descriptive or less descriptive we still get the same understanding. We still are able to grasp what is going on. The use of imagery in both of these pieces is different but that point still comes across clear. By authors and songwriters doing this we are able to understand the meaning of the poem, book, or song that you are reading/ listening to.