Loud Music

In a 2004 interview, Dobyns meditated on the form of many of his poems: “If there's a consistency in any of the books, it's the fact that I like a long line. It runs from maybe eight to up to even sixteen syllables. In some books it's longer, in some it's shorter, but there's always the long line” (“Stephen Dobyns.” The Cortland Review: Spring 2004). This holds true for “Loud Music,” which is written in long lines ranging from 10 to 12 syllables. While “Loud Music” is a free verse poem lacking any set rhythm or rhyme scheme, the lines’ similar syllabic length achieves a musical quality. Dobyns heightens this via internal rhyme, repetition, and line breaks that “affect the rhythm of the lines, to affect the rhythm of the poem” (“Stephen Dobyns.” The Cortland Review: Spring 2004).

Internal and slant rhyme is apparent throughout the poem. The first and second lines feature a near rhyme: “My stepdaughter and I circle round and round. / You see, I like the music loud” (Lines 1-2), as “round” almost rhymes with “loud” (Line 2).