Sound Poetry

Overview

'Language is only a way of understanding or not understanding. You prefer language to understand platitudes that everyone already knows by heart. We prefer language that brings you a new feeling for new times.'
Kurt Schwitters

Sound poetry uses the effect of words and how they sound to create an imagination of the readers mind, for example “Slithery Snake Slid Slowly” the sound effects from the repetition of “S” creates a picture of a snake sliding along in the readers mind.
According to Phidepho‘sound poetry is a poem where sounds of any species (phonetic, bodily noises, especially from a vocal tract, noises of natural or artificial origin, daily life auditory elements), are put together, formally related to each other, constructing a whole meaning or sense of the poem to be understood by the audience’ (Menezes, Phidelpho 2000).

'Considering sound poetry, where words may lose their so-called meaning or new words be created at random, the question arises as to what line can be drawn between music and poetry, with specific reference to the music of composers like John Cage who construct symphonies from juxtaposed sounds. The answer is that there is no such line. The lines separating music and poetry, writing and painting, are purely arbitrary, and sound poetry is precisely designed to break down these categories and to free poetry from the printed page without dogmatically ruling out the convenience of the printed page" William Burroughs. Excerpt from an introductory text for Henri Chopin's book on "Poésie Sonore international.'

Sample Poem:

BEES’ NEEDS

be
be side
beside her

beside hers elf

beside herself with her
beside herself with rage
beside herself with her age in
beside herself with her age in crease
beside herself with her age increase sing

beside herself with her age increasing ex sept
beside herself with her age increasing except shun
beside herself with her age increasing exception all
beside herself with her age increasing exception ally
beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick
beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick sell
beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick cell dome

beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick seldom is
beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick seldom is a
beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick seldom is a knee
beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick seldom is any one sing
beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick is any one sing gull
beside herself with her age increasing exceptionally quick seldom is anyone single left

© Penn Kemp, 2000

The words and the way the above poem is structured reflects the poets feelings and helps the audience to understand what is he/she trying to explain. For example as the poem develops the words are increased and the structure of the poem changes from very little writing to more detailed writing. The poet trying to explain that as the age increase the emotion becomes larger which is shown by the way the poem is structured.

More examples of written sound poems can be seen here

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