Essay on Poetic Strategies Used by Ed Sheeran in His Three Songs

Introduction

Ed Sheeran's love songwriting portrays creative mastery of the poetic strategies that carry the weight of his theme to his audience. Studying the use of literary devices in the lyrics of his three songs "I Love You", "shape of You", and "No Luck" illustrates his tactful choice of figurative language to relay his message to the audience. In the three songs, Ed Sheeran applies various poetic stylistic devices which include alliteration, rhyme, assonance, imagery, repetition, stanza, and similes making the creative composition apparent in delivering his theme. This paper will establish the comparison between the poetic stylistic devices employed by Ed Sheeran in his three songs to demonstrate their effectiveness in communicating the theme of the song to the audience. The work will also categorize the pieces of work from Ed Sheeran in the genre they belong based on the effectiveness of the poetic devices used.

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The Effectiveness of Poetic Devices in Ed Sheeran's "I Love You," "Shape of You," and "No Luck"

In the song "I Love You", Ed Sheeran uses different poetic devices to demonstrate the love story behind the subjected theme. He uses repetition of the chorus stanza and the phrase "I love you" to stress emphasis on the narrator's feelings towards his lover. In the lyrics of the song "I Love You" the songwriter uses alliteration by repeating the consonant sounds inline four and five to put pressure on the difference emerging between the two lovers. The song makes extensive use of assonance by repeating the vowel sounds by starting most of the lines in the stanzas with the syllable "I", for instance, "I wrapped, I tried, I have, I don't, I feel, and I had" to demonstrate the personification of most of the acts the narrator tries to justify his actions. Further, in the song, the writer uses imagery to appeal to the sense of his feeling. An example of the writer's application of imagery is in the second line of the chorus stanza when he says, " "My baby blue" and when he adds "I feel your pain" as a representation of his lover's anger that's why she is turning blue and his understanding of her frustration when he says he feels her pain.

In the song "No Luck" the song makes extensive use of rhyme style especially in the first and second stanzas by ending the lines in the same sound "face, pace" and "flirt, dirt, hurt" this use of rhyme poetic device helps connote the song's rhythm. The song also uses alliterations by starting line three and four of the first stanza with the same consonant sound. In this song, Ed Sheeran uses similes to compare two things or incidences. For instance "treat me like dirt" to show that the narrator felt that her lover was treating her badly. The songwriter uses imagery to illustrate the magnitude of her feeling due to the treatment she was getting from her lovers like when she says that "All lever felt for you went up in a cloud of smoke" the use of the phrase "smoke of cloud" symbolizes the magnitude of the love and the diffusion manner the love went away.

In the song "Shape of you," Ed Sheeran uses repetition in the chorus stanza to create the rhythm of the song. He also uses rhyme by ending the send stanza with the same sound and assonance in the first stanza. In the song, the writer makes use of similes to show the similarities between the feelings the narrator share with his lover. For instance, he says "We push and pull like a magnet does" to show how strong the love they share brings them close. The use of alliteration at the end of the second stanza places emphasis on the writer's intentions and gives the song a poetic rhythm.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in the application of poetic stylistic devices in the three songs, Ed Sheeran communicates his intended theme of love to the readers in a clear and precise way. It is through the combination of the themes using the poetic devices that categorize these three songs in the same genre of literature. Therefore, a close study of Ed Sheeran's writing makes a considerable contribution to learners' understanding of poetry.

Works Cited

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/edsheeran/iloveyou.html

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/edsheeran/noluck.html

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/edsheeran/shapeofyou.html