Poetry ? Poetry ? YECH ! Poetry is for girls !” This was yours truly talking , as an acne-dripping , unhappy teenager . What changed my mind so drastically and “ shaped up ,” so to speak , my world view ? Maybe it started with words from a freshman English teacher . Although she was not particularly likable , her argument has always stayed with me : “ You ask yourself , ‘ Why study Literature when I ’ m surely going to be an
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engineer ?’ Well , if you do , you ’ ll be a better engineer .”
But more than her assertion , however relevant , my turnaround came with my interest in music . This would be the popular variety , not classical , and certainly not the very questionable rock and roll then coming on the scene . Initially , I was fascinated by Gershwin ’ s “ Rhapsody in Blue ”, and I could listen to the music for long periods of time . But then I slowly shifted to the lyrics , the words that went along with
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compositions of geniuses like George Gershwin .
Even in my confused teenage years , I was always a romantic at heart . I was attracted to romantic stories in songs , where boy meets girl , and boy gets girl . I could bear some degree of unrequited love or love lost or unhappy endings , but these didn ’ t keep my interest and , if too ��tr�m�� a�t�a��y t�rn�� m� off�
As my tastes grew more articulate , it dawned on me that my views r����t�� �hat � ha� h�ar� ����ri��� as “ The American Sense of Life — a passionate , even if implicit , desire for happy endings , just endings , �ro���ti�� �ffort an� ����a��y� romantic endings .” I soon saw that not everyone , even in the U . S ., shared this sense of life . But enough did and I latched on to it , heart and soul .
More and more , I appreciated the lyrics of American popular songwriters as the ultimate in poetic expression . George Gershwin ’ s melodies , and those of others , played a part , of course . But it was the lyricists , those poets extraordinaire , who , more and more ,
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drew my attention and acclaim . |