Welcome Poem / Song (by Angela Lansbury)
I used to be a poet, then
I thought I'd write a song
And reach out to more people. so
Please tell me I'm not wrong
Do you want to sing a chorus?
Do you like joining in?
Then join us for an hour or two
I promise you win-win.
***
Poem / Song To End First Half (by Angela Lasnbury)
If you don't learn anything
If you don't have a laugh
Don't give up and go to bed
You might like the second half
***
Poem / Song to End Second Half (by Angela Lansbury)
I'm glad to see around me
Some old friends and new friends
A sneaky look at watch or clock
Warns me we're near the end
Penultimate Poem/Song to End Second Half Before Encore (by Angela Lansbury)
Alas there's always somebody collecting for a cause
But all that I'm collecting is a big round of applause
So if you want to hear some more
Just one more, simply shout, Encore!
***
Farewell Poem /Song by Angela Lansbury
Some performers give you laughter
Some sad ones tell of tears
The weird ones reveal their worst fears
Hear more, bring yours next year,
Tell friends who'll wish they'd been here
See you next year, my dear
Tell all your friends to come next year
See you next year, my dear.
Don't shout encore, youve had some more
We're off to sit down, bring us drinks
Or go to bed, for forty winks
Lead those who snore - to exit doors!\
Thanks
Thank you, see you next year, my dear
Thank them, see you next year, my dear.
Thank you, see you next year, my dear
Thank them, see you next year, my dear.
-ends-
I've just made two great improvements to my most recent poem or song and I hope all my work from now on. This might help you to appreciate poems and songs and if you ever want to write your own or help a child with homework.
Read Poems
1 One improvement is taking advice I saw on the internet. Read your poem aloud,
Sing Songs
or sing it to hear the rhythm. Writers of poetry are familiar with the concept of Iambic.
Read, Recognize And Write Iambic
Say I am and you see that the emphasis is on the second syllable. I am. The end. The opposite is trochee, emphasis on the first syllable. Welcome. Happy. Morning.
Read aloud the first line and you isntantly see if it starts with emphasis on the first or second syllable. The next line has to be the same. If it isn't, you either add a little word such as an iambic the, or a trochee, yes. To brighten and tighten you normally eliminate filler words like a, the, an, and, but, when, then. However, filler words are useful while you are doing your draft to get the rhythm. You can keep the basic construction, to make it easy to say or sing, and to remember. Or change it for more variety.
A standard song is three verses, three minutes, a chorus, which every body remembers because it is reapeated, at the started, twice between verses, at the end. You hear the chorus
Read and Write Ballad Form
If you start to tell a story with multiple verses, you end up with a ballad. It takes longer. It is more suitable for a performance by a solo artist with a guitar, or piano accompaniment. I recall doing standup comedy in a tennis club. People at the front would talk to each other. At the back people got up to order at the bar and talked to each other. How do you keep the audience involved. You keep the aidoemce invoved with the an opening song with a chorus, by asking questions, and getting audience involvement, and the audience anserw will always be different and a surprise, sometimes challenging. In a song you can ask a rhetorical question.
You can end with no answer, or a metaphor, such as the well known song phrase, the answer is bloing in the wind.
You can take a cliche, or create one, by asking a profound question and giving an everyday answer.
Please share links to your favourite posts. I have blogs on blogspot on travel, comical poety by Hazel Nutter and Dress of the day angela, with new posts daily, and old and intermittent posts on other blogs. I am the author of about twenty books, in and out of print, new and second hand, and ebooks.
Books by Angela Lansbury are on Amzon.com Amaxon.co.uk and Lulu.com. I am not related to the actress of the same name and LinkedIn has several Angela Lansbury entries and so does face book. Add the search words author, poetry, quotations, wedding speeches, travel, toastmasters, London, Singapore, until you recognze my face.
