Poem/Song Comparison By Lauren Kleinhans

John Mayer John Mayer was born on October 16, 1977 in Bridgeport Connecticut. He went to Berkley College of Music and than moved to Atlanta Georgia in 1997 to further his music career. His two first albums Heavier Things, and Room for Squares both achieved multi-platinum status. Mayer was Awarded the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy Award in 2003 for “Your Body is a Wonderland.” In 2007 her won Best Pop Vocal Album for Continuum and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Waiting on the World to Change.” His career remains successful with his latest album Battle Studies, released in November of last year.

John Berryman John Berryman was born on October 25, 1914 in McAlester Oklahoma. Shortly after in 1926 when Berryman was only 12 years old, his father shot himself. 10 years later he graduated from Columbia University and started composing his poetry. His father’s death had a huge impact on his work, many of his poems shared a similar depressed and morbid theme. In 1964 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his 77 Dream Songs poem collection. Berryman used alcohol to cope with his depression, which eventually got in the way of his work and in 1972 he jumped off a bridge in Minnesota to his death.

He Resigns John Berryman Age, and the deaths, and the ghosts. Her having gone away in spirit from me. Hosts of regrets come & find me empty. I don't feel this will change. I don't want any thing or person, familiar or strange. I don't think I will sing any more just now; or ever. I must start to sit with a blind brow above an empty heart.

Dreaming With A Broken Heart John Mayer When you're dreaming with a broken heart The waking up is the hardest part You roll outta bed and down on your knees And for the moment you can hardly breathe Wondering was she really here? Is she standing in my room? No she's not, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.... When you're dreaming with a broken heart The giving up is the hardest part She takes you in with your crying eyes Then all at once you have to say goodbye Wondering could you stay my love? Will you wake up by my side? No she can't, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.... Oooooooooohhhhhhhhh Now do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand? Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand? Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand? Would you get them if i did? No you won't, 'cause you're gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.... When you're dreaming with a broken heart The waking up is the hardest part

Thesis John Mayer and John Berryman share more than their name, they both express the difficulties of overcoming the loss of a loved one in their artistic works.

Literary Devises John Mayer – repetition, symbolism, rhyme, and imagery. He repeats the line “ When your dreaming with a broken heart, waking up is the hardest part” which is affective in enforcing the theme, that facing reality or “waking up” is the hardest part of loss. The image of him sleeping with roses by him self is sad, and reveals just how lonely he is. John Berryman- Symbolism, Imagery, and repetition. The image of his heart being “empty” is sympathetic and shows how depressed and lonely he is. He uses repetition of the word empty to enforce just how bad he really feels inside.

John Berryman and John Mayer both express their loneliness and longing for their loved ones. It is clear that they both miss someone, and it seems that both seem to be girls. They both love these girls even though they are gone. Though John Berryman’s poem makes it clear that his lover is dead, the pain felt in John Mayer’s song is just as strong. John Berryman had a lot rougher life than Mayer did and I think that is evident in his work when compared to Mayer’s songs. Berryman is more dark than Mayer and uses words such as ghosts and death in his poem whereas Mayer just implies them through imagery. Berryman’s poems are straight up to the point while Mayer’s are more artistic.