“Great River of God:” A Poem to a Song

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By Michael Avery

If you’ve ever wondered how your poem would sound as a song, it’s now possible to find out quite easily. Even if you know little to nothing about music, you can still have fun experimenting.

I used Suno ai to try this. They have a free version you can use, although it is limited to 10 tracks a day. Just type in the lyrics and add instructions for what you want (tags and a prompt) and cross your fingers. An example of tags are: [verse 1] or [chorus]. Prompts include: “classical crossover with a rich male voice, duet for the chorus” or “soft rock, pop, contemporary ballad,” etc.

A tip of the cap to Riley Carson for introducing me to Suno and answering a few questions. Suno has a FAQ page that can do much the same. (We’ll be featuring some of Riley’s songs in future posts).

I’ll include my original poem after the video for comparison. Enjoy…

Michael’s YouTube channel, @MichaelDavidAvery, can be found here:

____________________

Great River of God

Onward ever,
singing river, 
flowing on forever free.
Life that fills us,
charms and thrills us,
draws its light and love from Thee.

Ascending, falling,
softly calling,
on the wind resounds Thy song.
Lead me onward,
ever upward,
to the land for which I long.

Sweet song of life,
sweet light of lights,
let me with Thy tide unite,
in Spirit blending,
earth transcending, 
far into Thy heavenly heights.

Oh mighty river,
guide me ever,
toward Thy shining central sea.
Within Thy laughter,
ever after,
let me find myself in Thee.

Michael Avery
Circa 1985