| Author | Message | ||
| Kathy Paupore
Moderator Username: kathy Post Number: 10201 Registered: 12-2003 |
Outside the Box Rhyme is based on similar sounds, and English is full of words that echo each other. – Addonizio and Laux There has been much talk at Wild lately about like or dislike of rhyme. In my humble opinion rhyme is a tool that when used correctly can enhance the poem, and when used incorrectly can hinder or constrain the poem. There are many different types of rhyme used in poetry, and it is necessary to look outside the box of end-rhyme. Classic forms use end-rhyme, contemporary free verse does not often use end-rhyme but it uses many other forms of rhyme. There is more to rhyme than end-rhyme, much, much more. Rhyme Options End-rhyme: the rhyming words are at the end of the line Desperate (forced): contains strange alterations in grammar, syntax, pronunciation, and/or excursions from the subject to produce the rhyme and meet the meter. Expected (overused): the end-rhyme pairs that have been exhausted (love/dove, fire/desire) Antonym (opposite): the end-rhyme pairs are opposites (incline/decline) Homograph: the end-rhyme words are spelled the same but have different meanings (wind/wind, bow/bow, tear/tear) Composite: rhyme on as many composite words containing after as possible (afterword, aftertaste, etc), this could also be expanded to include other words as the prefix (sunshine, Sunday, sundog, sundown) Reverse: the rhyme words of each pair should be either the phonetic or the alphabetic reverse of each other (saw/was, keep/peak, top/pot). Bouts Rimes: bouts rimes is a French rhyme game in which the poet uses the rhyme words of someone else's sonnet Inclusion: one word of the rhyme pair is included in the other (word/world; heart/hearth) Internal: to rhyme a word with another word in that line or at the end of that line, or with a word in the next line Perfect (strict, pure): the initial sound of the word is different, but the end is identical, same vowel and consonant sound (wrong/song) Slant (off, half, evasive): words whose sounds are closely related but not identical (drive/ride, alone/home) Apopocated (cut-off): the last syllable of one of the rhyme words is missing (trap/happen; slap/happy) Masculine: take their rhyme sound on the final syllable, most common type (Cadillac/look back) Feminine: take their rhyme sound on the next to last syllable of a word or phrase, the accented syllable (sweater, letter) Assonance: words have the same vowel sounds (hold/on/long/come) Consonance: words begin with the same consonant (broken/bottles/bodies) Rich Consonance: words begin and end with the same consonant sounds but have differing vowel sounds (root/right) Partial Consonance (terminal alliteration): denotes the identity of the final consonant sound in 2 or more words (fallen/open/garden) Alliteration: repetition of consonants (clouds/rains/sea/changes/colors) Eye: doesn’t have to do with sounds at all but is visual (plough/cough) Repetition: repeating the same rhyming word throughout the poem Anaphora: repetition of a word or group of words at the beginnings of lines Repetend: the irregular repetition of a word or phrase at various places throughout the poem If I’ve missed any terms please feel free to let me know and I’ll add them to this list. Resources: In the Palm of Your Hand, by Steve Kowit The Poetry Home Repair Manual, by Ted Kooser The Poet’s Companion, by Kim Adonizio and Dorianne Laux A Poetry Handbook, by Mary Oliver The Six Levels of End-rhyme, by Jack Hart A Manifesto on the Contemporary Sonnet: A Personal Aesthetics, by Tony Barnstone You're invited to: Wild Flowers Poems don't have to rhyme.--Ted Kooser Rhyme is a technique that works best when it doesn't call attention to itself.--Addonizio and Laux | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Moderator Username: garydawg Post Number: 26213 Registered: 07-2001 |
Kathy, consider rhymes for parts of speech, esp verbs, or like objects such as colors, flowers, etc. Smiles. Gary Celebrate Walt with Gary: http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm | ||
| Lazarus
Senior Member Username: lazarus Post Number: 4433 Registered: 10-2005 |
Kathy- Thanks for this list. It's a great resource for info and inspiration. -Laz | ||
| Will Eastland
Intermediate Member Username: dwillo Post Number: 798 Registered: 07-2006 |
I'm getting the Kowit book for Christmas. WOOT! I want either less corruption, or more chance to participate in it. ~Ashleigh Brilliant | ||
| Kathy Paupore
Moderator Username: kathy Post Number: 10204 Registered: 12-2003 |
Will, it's a great book, enjoy! It was the first one I got on how-to and its still one of my favorites. Kathy You're invited to: Wild Flowers Poems don't have to rhyme.--Ted Kooser Rhyme is a technique that works best when it doesn't call attention to itself.--Addonizio and Laux | ||
| Packrat
Valued Member Username: harolyn_j_gourley Post Number: 187 Registered: 02-2008 |
Geez...that's a wonderful lot of work you've done here, compiling and condensing, Kathy! A really great reference tab, all in all! But I am somewhat perplexed...it does look like rhyming would be an awful lot of sheer hard work, the multiple-methodological options you've enumerated notwithstanding... How, then, to explain...me?? I have never known, nor ever consciously followed, any of the above rules, in particular, other than to automatically (unconsciously?) keep "recurring patterns" lined up. Yet rhyming is as natural to me (sometimes, more so) than breathing. I am aware of some of the names of things I "do", like end-rhymes, internal rhyme, etc., but it's more like...the poem writes itself, I just sit back (after the fact) and take note of what is in there, sometimes tweaking it a bit to "round off the rough edges", so to speak. The real engine behind it often seems to be the rhythm that's set. I don't ever remember "going to" find out "how to do it"...I just do it. So how does this all figure in... ***????????????????????????????*** --Packrat. (Message edited by harolyn j gourley on December 12, 2008) | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5061 Registered: 05-2006 |
Packrat, Glad to hear that you practice the rhythm method. Fred even consciousness, a pastiche of recycled cans | ||
| Packrat
Valued Member Username: harolyn_j_gourley Post Number: 188 Registered: 02-2008 |
(**mmrrmphff!!**) *ROTFL* Hi, Fred! Yeah...keep too many accidents from littering the floor and tripping me up!! --Packrat. | ||
| Kathy Paupore
Moderator Username: kathy Post Number: 10205 Registered: 12-2003 |
Gary do you have some examples I can add to the list? Laz, thanks, I've almost encouraged myself to try an end-rhymed sonnet. Yikes! Packrat, rhythm, meter, and recurring patterns are all part of rhyme, esp. end-rhyme, so if it comes naturally to you then you are lucky. It is a gift to take advantage of. As with anything, it will be easy for some and lots of work for others. Some will pick it up merely by reading poems with end-rhyme, some through stepping into a poem and following its patterns, some through lots of trial and error, and some through educating themselves on the terms and how-to. If end-rhyme came natural to me I might do it more often than I think the twice I have tried it. LOL. Fred, LOL. You're so irreverent. Kathy You're invited to: Wild Flowers Poems don't have to rhyme.--Ted Kooser Rhyme is a technique that works best when it doesn't call attention to itself.--Addonizio and Laux | ||
| Terry Gresham
New member Username: terryg Post Number: 2 Registered: 12-2008 |
I have heard said that if it does not rhyme it's not a poem. I am not so sure. I have stumbled upon many other poetic devises over the years that do not involve rhyme. They are beutiful poetic devises, however, they are a bit shy and do not stand out and stout as well as rhyme does. Rhyme to me is the pre-madonna of poetry. Sometime you can get some good work done with her. (Message edited by terryg on December 17, 2008) | ||
| Kathy Paupore
Moderator Username: kathy Post Number: 10244 Registered: 12-2003 |
Terry, Welcome to Wild. "If it does not rhyme it's not a poem" I would have to counter with: Just because it rhymes doesn't mean it's a poem. I have read some really awful rhyming poems where the only thing going for the poem was the rhyme, and the rhyme wasn't even all that good. Kathy You're invited to: Wild Flowers Free verse in not, of course, free.--Mary Oliver | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Moderator Username: garydawg Post Number: 26218 Registered: 07-2001 |
But please remember, quality is not part of the definition - says a guy who has written one of the worse ever - and it rhymed. Of course, quanity should not be either. Smiles. Gary Celebrate Walt with Gary: http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5070 Registered: 05-2006 |
Unfortunately, about 90% of the time, when I encounter a poem that end-rhymes, I know I'm going to be reading an awful poem by a beginning poet. Alicia Stallings notwithstanding, end-rhyme has largely become the signature of the novice poet. Curiously, this rule does NOT hold in popular music. Most songs with lyrics end-rhyme, and many song lyrics are fine writing, by any measure. Fred * * * * * (Message edited by sandiegopoet on December 13, 2008) even consciousness, a pastiche of recycled cans | ||
| Kathy Paupore
Moderator Username: kathy Post Number: 10255 Registered: 12-2003 |
This is turning into an interesting discussion. Gary, quality and quantity depend on why you write and who you write for I guess, and largely on the taste of the reader or publisher. I've also written one of those worst ever rhyming poems, but you have to start somewhere. Maybe I'll post it some day. Fred, I think beginning poets try rhyme because its what they're taught. I remember, at the highschool level having to memorize rhyming poems like Casey at Bat to recite to the class. Plus so many of us are raised on Nursery Rhymes and Dr. Suess, there's also lots of rhyme in other children's books, then we graduate to song lyrics, and all of it gets absorbed in the unconscious. I just did an exercise with song lyrics over in Sublux, and I'd have to say I agree with you that many lyrics are fine writing, but I think that comes in their simplicity, which is not a bad thing. Most of the time, when the end-rhyme takes over a poem, and usually my brain picks it out by the second rhyme pair, I have to force myself to stay engaged. If there's inverted syntax or if I need a translator to understand the grammar, then I'm out on the first line. Kathy You're invited to: Wild Flowers Free verse in not, of course, free.--Mary Oliver | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Moderator Username: garydawg Post Number: 26219 Registered: 07-2001 |
There are a list of attributes that poems should have (unless you belong to one of the French nonverbal or nonsence schools). Every poem does not need all of them, but without a least 2 or 3, the poem might as well be a Microsoft manual. Meter Metaphor/simile rhyme rhythm/music alliteration repitition form and probably about that many more, though in all honesty, I can never remember them all, which might say something for my bits. Smiles. Gary Celebrate Walt with Gary: http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm | ||
| Andrew Dufresne
Advanced Member Username: beachdreamer Post Number: 1884 Registered: 01-2006 |
I have my days with rhyme. I do it all the time. But when it doesn't work. I feel like such a jerk. Here's food for thought: use craft. Lest you slip off the raft. ad |
