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The Poetry behind “Hallelujah”

When most students think of poetry, some tend to think of the pain that their English

teacher forces them to endure every year. However, we all experience poetry much more than

once a year in English class. We experience poetry nearly every day: in music. Beneath catchy

beats and harmonies lies great poetry in a song’s lyrics. Some songs are more poetic than others,

but Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is a song that truly exemplifies excellence in poetry.

“Hallelujah” is an example of poetic excellence because it uses many poetic devices throughout

the song, the devices are used to enhance the song’s meaning, it avoids using poetic downfalls,

and its message is one of great importance.

One of the great things about “Hallelujah” is its widespread use of several poetic devices.

The song is written using poetic devices such as assonance, alliteration, allusion and end rhyme

to mention a few. Assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds, is shown in the line “Was how to

shoot at someone who outdrew you.” The repetition of the long “ooo” as a poetical device helps

to add to the poetry that is “Hallelujah.” Taking away the music, this consonance helps to give

the song rhythm, in the way in which the song is read aloud. Cohen also uses alliteration in

“Hallelujah.” For example, the lines, “The fourth, the fifth,” and, “The minor fall, the major lift,”

show a repetition of initial consonants on the important words. This alliteration, again, adds to

the rhythmic style of poetry and of the song. Another poetic device that is used in this song is

allusion. Given that the name of the song, “Hallelujah,” is a verse term used in Christianity, the

song makes references, or allusions, to biblical stories. In the line, “I’ve heard there was a secret

chord that David played and it pleased the lordLord,” is an obvious biblical reference. The line

references the story of David. In this story, David used his faith in God to defeat great evil

forces, which were seemingly much more powerful than he. This allusion helps add to the
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overall message of the song – faith. Another poetic device used by Cohen is end rhyme. Cohen

uses an a-a-b-c-c pattern of end rhyme throughout the song. For example, in the third stanza the

ending words are “proof,” “roof,” “you,” “chair,” and “hair.” The consistent use of end rhyme in

a similar pattern throughout the song adds to the poetical feeling and tempo of the song. Cohen’s

song is poetic in a sense that it’s written in the way that true poets write. Furthermore, each line

and device works together to help further the meaning of the song.

The many poetical devices used in “Hallelujah” all are used to put the song’s purpose

front and center. Cohen is smart about how he uses poetic devices. He uses these devices the best

is by allusion. The song makes several references to Biblical stories and Christian and other

religious beliefs. The story of David, alluded to by “I've heard there was a secret chord that

David played, and it pleased the Lord,” has a theme which is essentially the same to that of the

song. In “David and Goliath,” David is a young man who must fight Goliath, a ferocious

monster. David is much outmatched and it seems as if there would be no possible way to defeat

Goliath. However, by using faith and faith alone, David is able to defeat the gargantuan monster.

This theme and idea of keeping your faith strong is the message which this song is trying to

communicate. In the song, Cohen uses his own example about a person who is genuinely good,

but is overcoming a struggle. The line, “she tied you to a kitchen chair, she broke your throne,

and she cut your hair,” displays this struggle. The message he is trying to communicate is that

faith is what will pull her(?) out of hard times. Cohen reinforces his point and his example by

using allusions to show examples of this very thing. It’s extremely effective in establishing some

meaning to the song. By connecting a modern example of needing faith while alluding to this use

of faith in history, Cohen drives his message home. Apart from allusion, the other poetic devices

used, such as end rhyme, consonance, alliteration and end rhyme, help to establish a rhythm to
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the poem. These devices work together to produce a flow to the lyrics. These techniques used

allow the song to flow well and make the words come alive. When one reads the alliteration in

“the minor fall, the major lift,” or the consonance in “shoot someone who outdrew you,” you

really get a sense of how carefully the words were chosen so that they would soundthe overall

effect is harmonious. Great care was put into choosing the poetical devices, and using them to

make the song true poetry.

The song “Hallelujah” achieves poetical excellence not only by what it does do, but also

by what it does not do. The song makes sure to steer clear from any use of didactic, rhetorical, or

sentimental verse. Some may confuse the many religious and biblical references as making it

didactic, but this is not true. Didactic verse is when a poem is written in the desire to preach or to

teach a lesson. This is not at all the case in “Hallelujah.” The song, although using religious

stories to back up the message, is a song about staying strong, keeping faith, and having hope.

It’s not a song written to convert people or to drag people to church every Sunday. One of the

reasons this is known to be true is simply by the line “Maybe there’s a God above, but all I’ve

ever learned from love, was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.” This line paints

perfectly that this song is not to attribute to God, the good or bad things in life. This line shows

that it’s not a song written to praise Jesus’s name. “Hallelujah” is a song about struggle, and

using faith – faith in the world, faith in yourself, faith in your community, faith in your family, or

faith in God, in order to overcome obstacles in life. Faith doesn’t have to have a religious

connotation. Faith in this song is to never stop believing in the good that exists. “I'll stand before

the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah” shows this. In this case, the speaker

chooses to go on by having faith in God, one of the many types of faith. This song isn’t trying to
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convince people that God is the answer to all our problems, but rather that giving up is not the

answer. The song is not a “Christian” song, but rather a human song.

With any poem, the real key in determining its quality is the purpose of the poem.

“Hallelujah” has a purpose that is arguably one of the most important out of any song or poem I

have ever heard. Keeping faith is the ultimate purpose in “Hallelujah.” This is demonstrated in

the poem by showing what it is that will pull us out of hard times. The line “and even though it

all went wrong, I'll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah,”

perfectly represents what the song is going for. Although times may be difficult and mistakes

may have been made, keeping faith and hope in a better future is what will drive us to become

better human beings. If we have faith that there is something out there that is better than what we

have, we shall work harder and strive higher, so that we can achieve the better life. We all need

to believe that we can all go somewhere. We all need to believe that we can make a difference.

We all need to believe that the pain in the past will be diminished by the joy of the future. We all

need to believe in progress for ourselves for humanity. This song speaks so truly because it

speaks to every one of us. The song outlines severe struggle in a person’s life. The third stanza,

which reads, “She tied you to a kitchen chair, she broke your throne, and she cut your hair and

from your lips she drew the Hallelujah,” outlines the struggle that we face every day. The poem

is here to say ‘no, life isn’t easy.’ However, the song doesn’t stop there. The last lines are the key

to understanding this song. They show that even during immense hardship and incredible

suffering, by having faith you will be able to pull out of what pulls you down. The faith one has

in the world, their family, their community, their God, and their self is what will help guide us

out of struggle and into prosperity and joy. The song truly has a noble purpose, which is

achieved by its true poetry.

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Although many recognize it only as a song, “Hallelujah” is a perfect example of poetical

excellence because of its poetic devices and how they are used, the way it avoids using poetical

downfalls, and how it achieves its incredibly important purpose. “Hallelujah” uses many tools

that poets also use to communicate the importance of faith by taking you on a journey. In

“Hallelujah,” great struggle and great conflict is matched by its cure: holding on to faith. The

song communicates so clearly how faith can pull us out of our darkest moments. It’s not a song

designed to convince people to attend church. It’s not a song that simply tells us we need to have

faith. It’s a song that takes us on a journey and reminds us of a time when we were asked to have

faith so that we could pull out of hardship. “Hallelujah,” although a song, is a true example of

poetical excellence. Music has true meaning, true value and true importance. Sometimes, we just

have to dig a little deeper.

Excellent work. Exactly what I had in mind.