InSierra Ings

Prof. Adase

ENG 102

May 13, 2020

Final Poetry Projectgs 1

Song title and author:​ ​“The Fiddle And The Drum” by Joni Mitchell:

https://genius.com/Joni-mitchell-the-fiddle-and-the-drum-lyrics

Lyrics: And so once again

My dear Johnny my dear friend

And so once again you are fightin' us all

And when I ask you why

You raise your sticks and cry, and I fall

Oh, my friend

How did you come

To trade the fiddle for the drum

You say I have turned

Like the enemies you've earned

But I can remember

All the good things you are

And so I ask you please

Can I help you find the peace and the star

Oh, my friend

What time is this

 InSierra Ings
Prof. Adase

ENG 102

May 13, 2020

Final Poetry Projectgs 2

To trade the handshake for the fist

And so once again

Oh, America my friend

And so once again

You are fighting us all

And when we ask you why

You raise your sticks and cry and we fall

Oh, my friend

How did you come

To trade the fiddle for the drum

you say we have turned

Like the enemies you've earned

But we can remember

All the good things you are

And so we ask you please

Can we help you find the peace and the star

Oh my friend

We have all come

 InSierra Ings
Prof. Adase

ENG 102

May 13, 2020

Final Poetry Projectgs 3

To fear the beating of your drum

Situation of the poem:

● This composition is an open letter to the United States from the perspective of

someone who is outside of the American patriotic perspective.

● It asks the question “why are you choosing violence over peaceful solutions that

could be effective?” referring to the Vietnam war (has also been linked to protests

for the Iraq war).

● The tone of the piece is pleading and hopeful. She wants people that she cares

about (the average American) to understand that you do not need violence. Using

phrases like, “And so I ask you please. Can I help you...” and “we can remember,

all the good things you are,” to communicate that she is not trying to villainize

them but rather help them see a different way.

● The speaker just wants to know how the receiver of this message became so

violent, as indicated in the lines from the fourth stanza, “And when I ask you why

you raise your sticks and cry, and I fall”

Structure

● The song is organized into four stanzas, with each stanza having eight lines.
 InSierra Ings
Prof. Adase

ENG 102

May 13, 2020

Final Poetry Projectgs 4

● The movement of the poem is circular going through the same emotions and tone

every other stanza. It goes through feelings and actions of pleading, curiosity, and

chastising.

● . Then it goes back to the beginning.

● The only punctuation in the piece are some commas.

● The title of the poem is a phrase that is repeated in the song.

Languages

● This poem is vague on meaning but becomes clear with thinking about the lyrics.

● There are many metaphors for violence in war versus peaceful diplomacy. Some

examples of violence in war would be, “You raise your sticks and cry” and “for

the fist”. While examples of peaceful diplomacy metaphors would be, “Can I help

you find the peace and the star” and “America my friend”.

● Another metaphor clearly painted throughout this poem was the drum. The drum

is known to be a metaphor for the preparation of war. They are trading the sweet

and peaceful sounding fiddle (or violin) for the preparation of war.

● Some allusions surrounding the piece is the fact that Vietnam was going on at this

time, and many anti-war people were hurt during peaceful protests and
 InSierra Ings
Prof. Adase

ENG 102

May 13, 2020

Final Poetry Projectgs 5

demonstrations. This is represented in the first stanza, “And so once again you are

fightin' us all”

Musical Devices

● ABAB formatting

● This poem highlights and elongates certain words. As well as having a pattern of

stressed and unstressed vowels that make the poem melodious when sung.

● There is a rhyme scheme present; it is not repetitious, but it is obvious. In the first

stanza they rhyme “all” and “fall” as well as “cry” and “why”.

● There are a lot of lyrics that are repeated throughout the song, but most of the

repetition in this poem is seen in the word “friend” in this song. It appears six

times in the piece and at least once in every stanza. This seems to appear so much

as to let the receivers of the message know that they are in no way trying to attack

them, but condemn them for violent actions that might be unnecessary.
 InSierra Ings
Prof. Adase

ENG 102

May 13, 2020

Final Poetry Projectgs 6

ENG 102: Essay 4 poetry project – grading rubric

Overall presentation / following directions 10 out of 10

Explication of the ​situation​ of the poem 20 out of 20

Explication of the ​structure​ of the poem 20 out of 20

Explication of the​ language​ of the poem 20 out of 20

Explication of the ​musical devices​ of the poem 20 out of 20

Grammar / mechanics / spelling / punctuation 10 out of 10

TOTAL POINTS: 100

I love Joni Mitchell!! You did a great job of evaluating this poem and overall in ENG
102!

Sources:

https://sites.google.com/site/drumsnew/backround/symbolism-of-whatthe-drum-can-mea

n-in-a-time-of-battle

https://genius.com/Joni-mitchell-the-fiddle-and-the-drum-lyrics