Storytelling Through Poetry and Song (Taylor Swift’s Ronan)

Perhaps Taylor Swift isn’t for everyone, but personally, I am in awe of her poetic ability to write song lyrics that also tell a story. The details she uses are so vivid and specific. I don’t write a lot of poetry, but I have been writing flash fiction recently, and many of her songs are like flash pieces. She centers on a moment or two, and conveys an emotional narrative by doing so.

How does she do it?

A lot of it is skill, talent, and creativity, but there are also some tools she uses, poetic devices like rhyme, anaphora, hyperbole, simile, and imagery.

Let’s look at how she uses these devices in her song “Ronan”, which is about a four-year old boy who died from cancer. It is written from his mother’s perspective.

We all know what rhyme is. She also uses “near-rhyme ”, which we’ll count as the same thing.

Anaphora is repetition of leading words or phrases.

Hyperbole is a dramatic overstatement.

Imagery is description that appeals to any of the five senses.

Simile is an indirect comparison using “like” or “as.”

To view a document with the lyrics and my highlighted examples of how Swift uses poetic devices, click here.
Out of rhyme, simile, hyperbole, imagery, and anaphora, personally, I find anaphora the easiest to use. You’re just repeating leading words, and it adds structure and continuity. I find rhyme the most difficult. But if you use near rhyme or assonance (where you repeat a vowel sound like “cat” and “map”) then it’s easier. Swift does this quite effectively. For me, imagery and similes go hand in hand. Hyperbole, for this song, is almost pointless. How do you overstate the grief of losing a child, or of your love for him?

Anyway, if you want to give writing something of your own a try, below is a template based off of “Ronan.” I don’t advise writing something as sad as what she came up with (although you certainly can) but do use as much imagery, specific details, and perhaps some similes and hyperbole. If you like to use rhyme or near rhyme, you should definitely go for it. But if trying to use it might block you, skip it.

Start by deciding what story you’re going to tell and the emotion you want to communicate. For example, in Ronan –

Story: a four-year-old dies of cancer

Emotion: love and loss

Template
I remember ____________________

I remember ____________________

(provide imagery) ______________

(provide hyperbole) ________________

I remember _____________________

(provide simile) _________________

I remember __________________

(provide imagery) ______________

(provide a line of rhyme or near rhyme) ______________

And even _________________

(provide simile) _____________

(ask a question) ____________

Come on, ________________

(Provide two lines that rhyme) _____________

______________________

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