Today, I have to use a Shakespearean sonnet as inspiration.
I’ve picked Sonnet VIII.
Music
“Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?”
Asks Uncle William,
At which point I immediately raise an objection, and ask
“Music to hear, why hear’st though music joyfully?”
To which Uncle William offers no response.
So I must articulate,
Kindly bear with me here,
Because Uncle William appears to dictate how my
Emotions must respond when there is music to hear.
I will hear music exactly how I please, thank you,
Associating symphony, and melody,
With a vivid image of any memory,
Every note, every sound, every tune,
May bring joy to me,
But tears to you.
And indeed Uncle William,
You did nothing wrong by asking,
But this is how sadness is deglorified,
Denormalized, cast away from the spectrum of human emotion,
With society refusing to accept that
Pharrell’s “Happy”, can represent, grief of
Someone lost,
Or even rage at someone who
Played the song far too often.
So Uncle William,
I beg you to reconsider,
“Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?”,
Replace the start of Sonnet eight with
“Music to hear, so hear’st thou the music”,
For the emotion it may evoke is
Not one that requires justification to you.
Tejas Rao 