The Fallacy of the Common Tongue.

This article shows how to make poetry relevant to high school students. The technique involved is one in which the student is shown just those meanings which he can spontaneously relate to his emotions and interests. This synthesis can be made by using the lyrics of popular songs. The student can see the images, mood and dramatic situation of the speaker-singer, sense the ironies and tensions in the statements, watch how the ending of the song grew out of beginning--become aware in other words, of all those poetic elements and functions which the beginning student might one day see brought to perfection in the great poetry of our heritage. In addition to foreshadowing in song lyrics this kind of formal significance in poetry, the teacher might ask his students to express and bring into awareness their feelings about what the lyrics say. At the right point in the course of study, the teacher may make the transition from popular lyrics to the poetry of a poet such as E.E. Cummings or Dylan Thomas. (CK)