An Examination of Poetic Elements in Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah

This essay provides a detailed analysis of the poetic elements found in Jeff Buckley's rendition of "Hallelujah." The author argues that the song is poetic due to its use of various rhetorical devices, including rhyming schemes (aabcc), internal rhymes, alliteration, and the writing pattern of sestina. The discussion section explores devices like assonance, allusions to biblical tales such as David and Bathsheba, and allusions to Sampson and Delilah. The essay also examines the use of figurative language like metaphors and similes, along with the themes of illicit relationships and the pain of love. The conclusion reiterates the poetic nature of the song and the author's effective use of ethos and logos to appeal to the audience. The essay includes references to the original song and secondary sources that support the analysis.

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Poetic elements in the song Hallelujah
Hallelujah, the song was first recorded in the year 1984. The song included the lyrics
that began with the allusion regarding the biblical story of David and his chord for the lord
which is being connected and related to the authors own relationship (Brooks, 2005). The
thesis statement of the essay argues that the “Song Hallelujah’ is poetic because of the factor
of rhyming including the correspondence and repetition of the terminal end of the words
sounds in the lyrics of the song in the rhyming scheme of aabcc together with internal
rhyming that is characterised by the words that rhyme within the line, alliteration together
with Lambic parameter and writing pattern of sestina.
Discussion
This song is full of several poetic devices like assonance, alliteration, allusion and
many others. End rhyme has also been one of the most prominent poetic devices used in this
song Hallelujah. Assonance is the repetition of the vowel sounds in poems or in songs. The
use of assonance can be seen in the song. The ‘ooo’ sound in the song has been used in the
poem so it can add to the beauty of poetry of Hallelujah (Buckley). The captivating use of
several poetic devices has been a very significant fact in this song. The lyrics of the song
started with the allusion of a Biblical tale of David and the chord for his Lord. The story of
the song continues by referring to King David and the encounter he made with Bathsheba.
This Bathsheba is a married woman with whom he had an affair. There are other allusions in

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this song like tale regarding Sampson and Delilah. This song tells about the incident when
Delilah cut all the hair of Sampson after betraying him. The poetic devices had been used by
the author of the song because this would appeal the audience in a larger aspect. It is only
because the audience are already acquainted with the incidents beforehand (Buckley).
The use of the figurative language has also been one of the most prolific things to be
used in the paper. Jeff Buckley has used some important figurative languages like metaphors,
similes and others to add a new meaning to the song. Some critics have also discussed this
song as a song with overtly sexual connotations that has discussed about the relationships.
The mention of the illicit relationships between a man and a married woman (Bathsheba and
King David) has the elements of sexuality in the song (Buckley). The illicit relationship
between these two characters presents the religious metaphor of blasphemy. In this song,
King David has nowhere to go but God since he is broken down with despair after being
disheartened in his affair. This is David has to sing the praises of God. The chord of the Lord
is considered as the metaphor for which was the divine inspiration from the God Himself.
Here David has been portrayed as a believer of Psalm (Buckley). The ending line of the song
‘baffled King composing Hallelujah’ has also been a powerful exclamation of the progression
of chord in this discourse. Some minor languages have also been used in this song showing
the psychology of King David. Some crucial imagery have also been discussed in this song as
well.
The final section of this description will comprise of the theme of pain in love. King
David has understood that love is painful. The illicit relationship between King David and
Bathsheba has been quite important in this context. The melancholy of the song has always
been important in this song since the incomplete love of King David has been explained here.
However, the word Hallelujah means to praise the Lord (Buckley). King David has
exclaimed his painful story by not being able to get Bathsheba has caused him all the sorrow

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in his life. In this song King David feels that he has been betrayed in his love for Bathsheba
in many ways. The main thing in this context is he does not realize the fact that he has been
in an illicit relationship with Bathsheba (Buckley). After feeling betrayed in love, King David
had nowhere to go but to mourn in this situation. The pain of betray has also been discussed
in the relationship between Sampson and Delilah as well when she cut the hair of Sampson.
Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that Song Hallelujah is poetic because of the explanation
regarding the context of love that soured and gone towards stale.The author of the song
utilized the rhetorical devices including the ethos and the logos for appealing towards the
logic and the ethos of the listeners. Throughout the piece of the literature, various factors
related to poetry has been used by the author of the song to develop and make the flow of the
writing better, make the sound more appealing to the reader and easier to get followed and
read along with the poetic verses.

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Works Cited
Jeff Buckley. “Hallelujah.”Grace, Jeff Buckley Music, 1994

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References
Brooks, D. A. (2005). Jeff Buckley's Grace. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Light, A. (2012). The Holy Or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely
Ascent of" Hallelujah". Simon and Schuster.
Grange, J. (2018). Functionalization of polyisoprene: toward the mimic of natural
rubber (Doctoral dissertation, Université de Bordeaux).
Jaimovich, J., Coghlan, N., & Knapp, R. B. (2012, June). Emotion in motion: A study of
music and affective response. In International Symposium on Computer Music
Modeling and Retrieval (pp. 19-43). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.