Love Song for Alex, 1979

Lyric poetry, taking its name from song lyrics and music, is a type of poetry that expresses personal feelings. Lyric poems are subjective and composed of the speaker’s opinions. After the 16th century, lyric poems most often appeared as sonnets.

“Love Song for Alex, 1979” is a prime example of lyric poetry, as its purpose is to express Walker’s feelings for her husband.

A sonnet is a shorter lyric poem with 14 lines. Sonnets are usually written in iambic pentameter (a form that has 10 alternating unstressed and stressed syllables per line) and have a set rhyme scheme. A sonnet also contains a volta, or a change in the poem’s subject or meaning.

While “Love Song for Alex, 1979” has 14 lines like a traditional sonnet, it sometimes has more than 10 syllables per line. There is, however, a significant change, or volta, in the sonnet after Line 10.

A volta is a change in thought in a sonnet, sometimes called a turn. In more traditional sonnets the volta occurs at the same point in the poem every time.