There was a caring man behind the brilliant songs
Quietly fighting against the wrongs
Reminding us to rise to the top
Demanding that we never stop
Small in stature a giant among men
We love you now as we loved you then
The incomparable music the incredible voice
The vibrant musician was our choice
The concerts I witnessed!
The gentleman was fly!
Release the doves let them cry
Good night Sweet Prince Goodbye~
From: Uptown Déjà Vu
Summary
“Prince Matters” by Jimmie Ware is a poem centered on love and relationships, music, travel and movement. The poem develops its subject through recurring images and shifts in emotional pressure rather than reducing the experience to a single statement.
Analysis
Voice
A personal, first-person speaker combines recollection with direct emotional address.
Style and form
The poem is musically inflected, line-driven, compressed, first-person. Its brevity concentrates attention on juxtaposition, line breaks, and the pressure created by what the poem leaves unstated.
Themes and imagery
Its strongest thematic currents include love and relationships, music, travel and movement. Concrete images give those abstractions physical weight, while changes in diction and pace keep the poem from settling into a single emotional register.
Reading the poem
A productive way to read “Prince Matters” is to watch how its images change function as the poem progresses. Details that initially establish scene or memory become emotional evidence. The result is a poem whose argument is carried through association, rhythm, and image as much as through explicit statement.
Explore this poem
Source & rights
Source: Uptown Déjà Vu
Rights: Copyright controlled by the rights holder. Published here with permission.