The Poetry of “Cosmic Love”

Elle McHugh English L202 Paper 2 synopsis October 15, 2012 The Poetry of cosmic do Emerging in the summer of 2009, Florence and the political machine, a British indie-rock band, has a style of a mix between reason and rock. Nonetheless, their sound is best described by their lead singer Florence Welch as, something elicit and altogether-encompassing that fills you up . . . That said, their music contains an ethereal intensity with poetic elements that decide them apart from other music. Such a metrical composition by Florence and the Machine that exemplifies poetic components is Cosmic Love. This particular tune tells the story of girl who water bring back in bang with a boy and becomes consumed by it. However, she fears that he whitethorn not feel the same, and becomes entirely absorbed by this anxiety. But, later, she comes to the realization that she was mistaken. In order to express this tale, Florence and the Machine employ poetic mechanisms to better apologize the p lot of this story. frankincense, beca habituate of form and extended metaphor the song Cosmic Love by Florence and the Machine can be equated as a poem. The nearly evident of these poetic devices that are commissioned is form. Cosmic Love is comprised of sevener four-line stanzas or quatrains, which alternate between verse and chorus. As described by Kennedy, the use of quatrains, is the most common stanza form used in the English-language of poetry, (Kennedy, 531). Accordingly, this body gives the song a distinct configuration, which greatly aligns it with common arrangements of poetry. Along with its physiological appearance, because Cosmic Love conveys a story, it has the textual appearance of a ballad. Thus from these two elements, Cosmic Love produces a parallel between song and poetry.Another facet of form that appears within this song is repetition. The chorus of The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out/ You left me in the dark/ No dawn, no day, Im evermore in t his twilight/ Of the shadow of your heart, (5-8) is repeat four times throughout. Due to such reiteration, the chorus is hugely emphasized. Accordingly, the wideness of the girls feelings of fraudness by the bed she is experiencing is exhibited. Also, because this recurs so frequently, her softness to escape these emotions is articulated. It is as if she is constantly ambushed by these feelings.Therefore, from this recurrence of emotions, this song exudes poetic form, again. Another key poetic component represented within Cosmic Love is an extended metaphor. This tool is exercised to yet the understanding of the story told. As can be seen throughout the song, this metaphor whitethorn refer to the laws that attend the universe, as represented by the word cosmic in the title. For example, she explains in the first stanza that, A falling star deteriorate from your heart/ And arrive in my eyes/ I screamed aloud, as it tore through them/ And instantaneously its left me blind, ( 1-4).Though this may seem to be described as an actual occurrence, it does not mean that a star literally fell from the sky and landed in this poor girls eye, as that would be quite a painful ordeal. However, it may explain that she began to fall for this particular boy, and it has left her unaware of the rest of the world or of the happenings in it. Moreover, this reference to being blinded by a star may even be metaphorical allusion to the term of being starry-eyed. As specify by the Oxford-English dictionary, starry-eyed means to be, full of emotion, hopes or dreams about soulfulness or something. And, in this sense, it greatly relates to the sentiments that are being voiced, and breeds a connecter to metaphors that are used in poetry. Such figurative language continues on through the chorus. Perhaps, the lyrics The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out,(5), explain that the world as she knew it has been extinguished standardised a candle. She may have become incogni zant to the constants that govern our universe. Furthermore, when the song states, No dawn, no day, Im al expressions in this twilight/ In the shadow of your love, (7-8), it may be describing that she is confine in a vague unawareness of the outside world because of her love or this boy. Along with this, the cosmic metaphor persists into the second verse. And, as indicated by the lyrics, And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat/ I assay to find the sound/ But it stopped and I was in the phantom/ So dimness I became, (9-12), just as everyday the globe dissolves into night, she too may have drifted into a similar darkness. She is possibly so terrified that this boy may not share her feelings that she has become like darkness of the night. And, again, the use of this metaphor continues to offer to connect poetry and this song.Finally, in the third and last verse, this metaphor persists. This stanza possibly explains that she resolved to release herself from her blind and starry- eyed state by . . . taking the stars from my eyes . . . (17), and find a way out of the darkness as indicated by the lyrics, . . . and then I do a map/ And knew somehow I would find my way back, (17-18). But, shortly realizes that she was not alone in her fears of unshared feelings because, he was in the darkness too, (19). Or, that he was lost in a similar night like darkness as she was. Then, because of this, she, . . stays in the darkness with him (20). Thus, this metaphor to the cosmos deepens the supremacy of love they have for one another. And, in comparing their love to the laws within the universe, the description of their feelings for one another seem to be otherworldly and almost supernatural. at once again, this extended metaphor that was cleverly fashioned maintains to engender a semblance between this song and poetry. Throughout Cosmic Love, Florence and the Machine uses poetic devices to exhibit, support, and further explain the story within the song.Their ins ightful ability to make use of form and an extended metaphor creates a respectable poem. Therefore, in applying commonplace poetic form and crafting an extended metaphor to describe this love-struck journey, this song is very an artfully illustrated poem. Work Cited 1. Cosmic Love. Moshi Moshi Entertainment. 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. www. florenceandthemachine. net 2. Kennedy, X. J. , and Dana Gioia. Chapter 17 closed in(p) Form. Backpack Literature. Fourth ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey Pearson Education, 2012. 512-31. Print.