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Chris Hu on 07 October 2012
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thewayofthepath said:
Chris Hu said:
Mnementh said:
Chris Hu said:
Mnementh said:
Chris Hu said:

You really can't say that English is not very poetic when some of the most famous poems and poets are in English and where written by people that had English as their native tounge.

Most famous poems and poets? Hmm, I think Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Heine, Fontane, Tucholsky, Keller, Mörike, Brecht, Kästner, Brentano, Büchner, Bürger, Droste-Hülshoff, Eichendorff, Enzensberger, Herder, Fallersleben, Morgenstern, Ringelnatz are among the most famous poets, and the poems they have written among the most famous poems. But they didn't write in english - they made their works in german.

The language for the famous novels on the other hand seems to be russian.


German is a more poetic language but their are just as many famous poets and  poems that are written in the English language.  William Shakespeare who considered the greatest writer in the English language by many was just as much a poet as he was a playwright.  Also for what the English language lacks in poetry it makes up for by being very lyrical.  I highly doubt The Beatles or the majority of all muscial acts during the last 60 years would have been as big if they didn't write and sing their songs in English.  Even today your best bet to make it big in the music industry is by singing in English.

I doubt that German is an especially poetic languages. At the time poetry was popular, one of the cultural central points was in germany. It's the same with your example: pop-songs are usually in english (that is not longer true if you look for classical songs). The biggest market at the moment speaks english. And it is unusual to synchronize music (like it is done in some countries with movies). But sometimes - 'House of Rising Sun' sung by Manfred Krug with german text is as good as the original.

Its more poetic then English for sure but its not very lyrical and only goes well with a few genres of music.  English is more lyrical then poetic it also helps that English was the main language behind most musical genres that emerged in the last 100 years like rock and roll, pop music, rap, r&b etc. etc.  Not only do a lot of foreign groups who are not native English speakers sing in English to be more popular but also because the genre they sing in sounds better in English.


Sorry, but no.  English is not lyrical by any stretch of the imagination.  For example, it's very easy to break Japanese syllables into musical notes because of the syllabic nature of the language.  But doing the same (correctly) in English requires a dictionary, even for native speakers.

Well the majority of very popular artist around the world would disagree with you.  I doubt The Beatles would have become the most famous band of all time if they would have sung in any other language besides English same rule applies for pretty much all top musical acts of the last 100 years.  Of the 70+ albums that sold over 20 million copies only one was not in English that album being Romanza by Andre Bocellci but even it features one track in English.  I also highly doubt that ABBA, a-Ha, Poets of the Fall, Scorpions, Modern Talking or Europe, would have been as popular if they would have sung only in their native language instead of English.  Not only is English very lyrical but its one of the more poetic languages also.  Rap music wouldn't exist if English wasn't very poetic.