So, for my first post I thought it would be fun to identify different poetic elements that I found in the song “Imaginary” by Evanescence. I have to admit that I was geeking out when I started to notice how poetic this song is. There are so many examples of poetic elements and I love it. Of course I’m not going to be able to catch everything, but I wanted to share what I noticed and share my appreciation for the songwriting. To make things easier on everybody, I’m only going to reference the parts of a line that are relevant to what I’m saying, as opposed to quoting the entire line every time.

Lyrics:

“Imaginary”

Ah-ah-ah-ah, paper flowers
Ah-ah-ah-ah, paper flowers

I linger in the doorway
Of alarm clock screaming monsters calling my name
Let me stay where the wind will whisper to me
Where the raindrops, as they’re falling, tell a story

In my field of paper flowers
And candy clouds of lullaby (paper flowers)
I lie inside myself for hours
And watch my purple sky fly over me (paper flowers)

Don’t say I’m out of touch
With this rampant chaos – your reality
I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge
The nightmare I built my own world to escape

In my field of paper flowers
And candy clouds of lullaby (paper flowers)
I lie inside myself for hours
And watch my purple sky fly over me (paper flowers)

Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming
Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights
Oh, how I long for the deep sleep dreaming
The goddess of imaginary light

In my field of paper flowers
And candy clouds of lullaby (paper flowers)
I lie inside myself for hours
And watch my purple sky fly over me (paper flowers)

Ah-ah-ah-ah, paper flowers
Ah-ah-ah-ah, paper flowers

I just used the lyrics I found on azlyrics.com.

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/evanescence/imaginary.html

Metaphors:

• “…doorway
  Of alarm clock screaming monsters calling my name” This can represent the nagging voices of other people or the speaker’s own inner voice. It is a disrupting kind of pressure the speaker faces.
• “In my field of paper flowers
  And candy clouds of lullaby” I think this represents an imaginary place in the speaker’s mind that brings happiness. But, it is fragile since the flowers are made of paper.

Euphemism:

• “…deep sleep dreaming
  The goddess of imaginary light” When I read this, it made me think of death, or at least the fantasy of it coming from the hands of an angel of death.

Alliteration:

• “…where the wind will whisper…”
• “…candy clouds…”
• “…well what…”
• “Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming”

Consonance:

• “…clock screaming monsters calling…”
• “Let me stay where the wind…” The “t” sound as in the word “cat” is repeated.
• “And candy clouds…” There is a repeating “d” sound and a repeating “c” sound.
• “Don’t say I’m out of touch”
• “…know well what…”
• “…for the fear of…”
• “…silent nights”
• “…deep sleep dreaming” Both the “d” and “p” sounds repeat.

Assonance:

• “Paper flowers”
• “…linger in…”
• “…alarm clock screaming monsters calling…” The “aw” sound repeats.
• “…wind will whisper…”
• “And candy…”
• “…of lullaby…” The “uh” sound repeats.
• “I lie inside myself…”
• “…purple sky fly over…”
• “…my purple sky fly…”
• “…of touch” The “uh sound repeats.
• “With this rampant…” The “I” sound as in the word “it” repeats.
• “…lies beyond my…”
• “…beyond my sleeping…”
• “…nightmare I built my…”
• “…up in the sound of…” The “uh” sound repeats.
• “…cease for the fear…”
• “…silent nights”
• “Oh, how I long for…” There are two “o” sounds that repeat. “O” as in “orange” and “o” as in “octopus”.
• “…deep sleep dreaming”

Rhymes:

I’m not going to specify the type of rhyme. In all honesty, I sometimes struggle with figuring out the exact type of rhyme that is being used.

• “…linger…whisper…”
• “…screaming…calling…”
• “calling…falling”
• “…me…story”
• “…flowers…hours”
• “…sky fly…”
• “…deep sleep…”
• “…screaming…dreaming“
• “…nights…light”

Personification:

I used pink to mark the “nonhuman thing” being described and green to mark the human attribute/behavior.

• “…alarm clock screaming monsters calling my name”
• “…wind will whisper…”
• “…raindrops, as they’re falling, tell a story“

So, those are all of the categories I want to include. I don’t want to do too much and make it boring. I also want there to be room for comments and suggestions.

Feel free to leave a comment about any thoughts you have!