djacob@isps.edu.tt

THE FIRST LADY OF POETRY

When it comes to Carla Bruni—supermodel turned singer turned first lady of France—expect the unexpected. Mrs Sarkozy has shocked a lot of people with her free spirit. Throughout most of her modelling career she had said she didn’t believe in marriage; yet she’s managed to marry the French President and not appear to be a hypocrite. As a matter of fact, she has turned out to be a big asset to her husband.

The French love her. Her husband’s approval rating has soared since they’ve been married. Everyone continues to look to Carla Bruni for fashions sense and elegance. She’s settled nicely into a traditional role, yet she’s still an individual. Currently, she’s sending some shock waves out there with her second English language CD that includes a song using Afghanistan’s heroin and Colombia’s cocaine as a metaphor for being hooked on love.

But for me, one of Bruni’s most shocking acts has been releasing her first English language CD, No Promises. It is shocking because the CD features traditional poetry, which really wouldn’t seem to be Bruni’s cup of tea, iconoclast that she is.

No Promises is a CD that every English teacher should use in his class. I can’t think of a better way to introduce students to great poetry in a light, entertaining way.

No Promises turns very famous poems into lyrics that Bruni sings in a whispery, sultry voice with a hint of her French accent. The lyrics are provocative and the music is mesmerising. The CD falls somewhere between soft rock and folk. The closest comparison I can think of is Nora Jones’s music.

The first track of the CD is Those Dancing Days Are Gone, the story of a woman coping with the changes in her life, perhaps even age. It is a poem by William Butler Yeats.

This is followed by another Yeats poem, Before the World Was Made. Bruni sings, “If I make the lashes dark/And the eyes more bright/And the lips more scarlet/Or ask if all be right/From mirror after mirror,/No vanity displayed:/I’m looking for the face I had/Before the world was made.” 

Lady Weeping by the Crossroads is a poem by Wystan Hugh Auden. Emily Dickinson is well represented with I Felt My Life With Both My Hands, If You Were Coming in the Fall, and I Went to Heaven. 

Christina Georgina Rosetti’s Promises Like Pie-Crust was said to be Bruni’s defining song: “Promise me no promises/So will I not promise you/Keep we both our liberties,/Never false and never true/Let us hold the die uncast/Free to come as free to go/For I cannot know your past/And of mine what can you know?”

There were those who insisted this song represented Bruni’s personal philosophy of personal independence, which would not go well, they insisted, with marriage to the French President. Her few critics were wrong. President Sarkozy’s approval rating has soared since marrying Bruni in spite of the fact that she is ultra-liberal and has had a son while she was unmarried.

The Italian-born supermodel is credited with reuniting her husband with his estranged father. She has charmed heads of state including American President George Bush and proved herself to be a fashion chameleon who could dress to suit the purpose, noting her very austere outfit to meet the Queen of England. In other words, she bridges both worlds: traditional and modern.

The CD also includes Autumn by Walter de la Mare; Afternoon and Ballade at Thirty-five by Dorothy Parker. All together it is a worthy collection of poetry packaged to suit the needs of any young romantic, which makes an English teacher’s job even easier.

The liner notes include a brief biography of each poet represented in the CD. Any listener would be hard-pressed not to dig up the entire lyrics of the poems featured in the CD. What a great way to get students to do some research on poets and poetry, British and American, or even Carla Bruni for that matter. I can see a project on French presidents or French first ladies as well.

I know there will be some sceptics out there who will say, “…but that kind of research is not on the syllabus.” It’s time we learn to make the most out of opportunities to teach skills: reading, writing, comprehension and analysis. It’s time we use our imaginations to figure out better ways to connect formal education to the real world for students. That means using music, movies and TV to get students to read poetry and prose.

We want students to connect what they are learning in school to life. We want them to realise that poetry is something more that verses that reside in dusty books. We should hope that they see poetry from the past makes cool lyrics. When it comes to music, leave it to an ultra-modern supermodel like Carla Bruni to show us how to create something new and fresh out of something very old and traditional. You could say it’s a perfect marriage.