Bridget Walsh
Poetry in favourite songs: Forever Young
Updated: Dec 6, 2020
I love looking at the poetry in songs.
This one for example:
Bob Dylan & The Band "Forever Young" - A Tribute To Bob Dylan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1fSVbBwVX8
I understand that Bob Dylan wrote this song for his son and recorded it in 1973, almost fifty years ago. I wish the same for my grandchildren; two of them here, Ethan and Kit.

Structure:
The first three lines of each stanza begin with the words
'May God/May you', (expressing hope or possibility) the fourth line completes the final hope e.g.
'May you always do for others
And let others do for you.'
The fifth and sixth lines repeat with a different hope.
'May you build a ladder to the stars
and climb on every rung.'
My favourite lines are in the final verse:
'May you have a strong foundation
when the winds of change shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung.'
Rhyme
Each verse rhymes on the second and fourth lines:
true/you - repeated in the second verse; then swift/shift in third verse.
The sixth line in each stanza ends in 'rung/strong/sung', rhyming with 'young' in the chorus.
Chorus
Every verse is completed by the three-line chorus
'May you stay forever young.'
Beautiful.