– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Pippa.

In this episode we're discussing poetry.

For some, poetry is what you study at school, then forget,

while for others it becomes an important part of their life.

Have you ever read or written any poetry, Neil?

Well, I haven't written any poetry since I was at school.

I would love to read more poetry, but I just don't get it, really.

I find it difficult to understand.

A good place to hear poetry is an open mic night, a live event

where anyone is allowed to stand up on stage to sing or recite poems.

Here, BBC reporter Maria recites her open mic poem

about a friend who suffered a stroke,

for BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World.

This first poem, I wrote it about a friend who I love dearly.

It's called Stroke.

You're awake And trying to grasp who it is.

I pull my mask past my lips and you study my face,

Eyes wide.

I've enough stuff to tell you, I say,

Sinking into a chair.

I stare.

Sometimes if you go to an open mic night,

people can really touch your soul with what they're saying.

And even if you're having a bad day, life can feel so much better

after going to an open mic night.

For Maria, poetry has the power to heal emotions and touch your soul,

meaning to affect you deeply on an emotional or spiritual level.

In this episode, we'll hear more about the positive power of poetry and,

as usual, we'll learn some useful new words and phrases.

And remember, you'll find all the vocabulary,

plus a quiz and worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

But first, I have a question for you, Pippa.

Just now you used the phrase 'the positive power of poetry',

repeating the same initial 'p' sound across a string of words.

Doing this is a common feature of poetry, but what's it called?

Is it: a) assonance, b) alliteration, or c) simile?

Hmm. Finally, my English degree might come in handy!

And I'm going to say b) alliteration.

Well, we'll find out at the end, and I hope you don't get embarrassed, Pippa!

Now, poetry helped Maria overcome sadness,

but could its power to heal work in other areas too?

Hot Poets is a group helping people understand the science

behind global issues like climate change.

They go to meetings like the UN Climate Conference

and listen to scientific papers being presented.

Then they write a poem about it all and perform that back to the audience.

Here's Hot Poet Liv Torc, reciting her poem

to BBC World Service's People Fixing the World.

It starts with an adventure at sea,

A big blue murder mystery, where the killer is not the whale

But an epic humanity fail

Of overfishing and polluting at unimaginable scale.

Liv's poem is based on a study into biodiversity.

It's a complex research project that many find hard to understand.

Here, Liv discusses this

with Myra Anubi for BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World:

And Liv, I mean, so what you've identified is that there is an issue

around the communication of science.

Yes, a lot of this jargon is really hard to understand,

or a lot of the science is quite impenetrable to normal people,

so it's instantly a turn-off.

Science uses lots of jargon – specialist or technical vocabulary

which is quite different from everyday language.

For example, a scientist might use the word precipitation,

while in everyday English we would say rain.

Jargon can make scientific papers impenetrable,

an adjective meaning impossible to understand.

And worse, it makes science a turn-off –

something that people dislike or find uninteresting.

Hot Poets try to change all of that

by making complex environmental ideas easy to understand through poetry.

And it works, says Kat Bruce,

the environmental scientist whose study Liv based her poem on,

talking here with Myra Anubi for BBC World Service's People Fixing the World.

What did it mean for you, Kat,

hearing the poem, having actually experienced everything she's saying?

It still gives me goosebumps when I hear it now.

I think it's everything that I wish I could say and put into words myself.

I feel like Liv just, you know, has done that.

Liv's poem gave Kat goosebumps, meaning she was so emotionally affected

that the hairs on her skin stood up, making tiny bumps.

Maybe poetry can't fix everything,

but for Kat, it's making an impact for good.

Now, what was the answer to your question, Neil?

Well, you seemed very clear, Pippa,

that when you use a string of words beginning with the same sound,

it's called alliteration...

and you're absolutely right.

Phew!

OK. Let's recap the vocabulary we've learned,

starting with open mic night,

a live event where anyone is allowed to perform poems or music on stage.

If something touches your soul, it affects you deeply

on an emotional or spiritual level.

Jargon means special words and phrases

that are used in a particular profession or subject.

The adjective impenetrable means impossible to understand.

A turn-off is something that people dislike or find uninteresting.

And finally, if you get goosebumps, the hairs on your skin stand up

because you're cold, emotionally affected, or afraid.

Once again, our six minutes are up,

but remember, you'll find lots more episodes as well as a quiz and worksheet

for this one on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

See you again soon.

But for now it's goodbye.

Goodbye!

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
poetry /ˈpoʊətri/ A2	noun - literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas using distinctive style and rhythm
recite /rɪˈsaɪt/ B2	verb - to repeat aloud a poem or passage from memory
stroke /stroʊk/ B2	noun - a sudden disabling attack caused by an interruption in the blood supply to the brain
grasp /ɡræsp/ B2	verb - to understand something fully
soul /soʊl/ B1	noun - the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being
heal /hiːl/ B1	verb - to become sound or healthy again
emotion /ɪˈmoʊʃn/ B1	noun - a strong feeling deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships
alliteration /əˌlɪtəˈreɪʃn/ C1	noun - the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words
overcome /ˌoʊvərˈkʌm/ B2	verb - to succeed in dealing with a problem or difficulty
biodiversity /ˌbaɪoʊdaɪˈvɜːrsəti/ C1	noun - the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem
jargon /ˈdʒɑːrɡən/ C1	noun - special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand
impenetrable /ɪmˈpenɪtrəbl/ C2	adjective - impossible to pass through or penetrate; impossible to understand
precipitation /prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃn/ C1	noun - rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground
goosebumps /ˈɡuːsbʌmps/ B2	noun - small bumps on the skin caused by cold, fear, or strong emotion

Key Grammar Structures

• I haven't written any poetry since I was at school.

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense

  ➔ Used "haven't written" to describe an action that started in the past and has relevance to the present.

• For some, poetry is what you study at school, then forget.

  ➔ Relative Clause (Noun Clause)

  ➔ "What you study" functions as a noun phrase meaning 'the thing which you study'.

• I would love to read more poetry, but I just don't get it, really.

  ➔ Conditional 'Would' for desire

  ➔ "Would love" is used to express a polite or softened wish for something.

• This first poem, I wrote it about a friend who I love dearly.

  ➔ Relative Pronoun (who)

  ➔ "Who" is used to define 'a friend', connecting the noun to the descriptive clause.

• Even if you're having a bad day, life can feel so much better.

  ➔ Conditional Clause with 'Even if'

  ➔ "Even if" emphasizes that a condition does not prevent the main statement from being true.

• Then they write a poem about it all and perform that back to the audience.

  ➔ Present Simple Tense

  ➔ Used here to describe routine activities or habitual actions in a sequence.

• A lot of this jargon is really hard to understand.

  ➔ Quantifiers (A lot of)

  ➔ "A lot of" is used to indicate a large quantity of the uncountable noun 'jargon'.

• I wish I could say and put into words myself.

  ➔ Modal verb 'Could' for ability

  ➔ "Could" is used here to express an unrealized possibility or desire.