Writing With Grace

Rhyme

by Dim Aldebaran

Often, it’s the subtle things that really add elegance to a piece. With this series of articles, Writing With Grace will provide detailed explanations of writing techniques that can give the piece that polished feeling, and make it a pleasure to read over and over again.

Rhyme is the repetition of syllable sounds in two or more different words. In poetry, it is a time-honored technique; indeed, most people immediately associate poetry with rhyme. However, it is not merely a technique for the poets: there are also important uses for prose, though these will be highlighted later in the article.

Rhyming is a relatively simple thing to do. Words must rhyme with at least their last syllable; for example, the words ‘forlorn’ and ‘highborn’ both have the ‘orn’ sound as their last syllable, but different consonant sounds preceding it (‘l’ and ‘b’ respectively.) The more syllables that rhyme in the two words, the more conspicuous the rhyme; for example, ‘mellifluous’ and ‘superfluous’ rhyme perfectly in the last two syllables. One may also rhyme a group of words with a single word or another group of words; for example, the words ‘harpsichord’ and ‘barks the lord’.

The easiest way to come up with rhymes is to take the single syllable you are trying to rhyme and try different sounds before it: for example, if one is trying to rhyme, ‘kite’, one may try things like, ‘lite’, ‘hite’, ‘mite’, ‘rite’, ‘pite’, ‘site’, etc. Oftentimes, there are those that are nonsense, but there are also genuine words; in this example, ‘lite’/‘light’, ‘height’, ‘might’, ‘right’, ‘sight’/‘site’, etc. For longer words, one may also try taking a suffix ending and coming up with different words that share it, such as different superlatives.

There are several pitfalls while rhyming words, however. One of the most common is the improper use of Slant Rhyme, or words that sounds similar to each other, but not enough for a perfect rhyme. The words ‘pocket’ and ‘chocolate’, or ‘cello’ and ‘hello’ are all examples. Though slant rhyme is acceptable for multisyllable rhymes, as long as it is not on the final syllables, it otherwise gives the piece a rough feeling to it. Slant rhymes are especially prevalent in song lyrics, since the imperfection of the rhyme is not usually apparent when sung. It is occasionally found in professional poetry, due to the necessity of the verse, and there are also some experimental poets who use slant rhymes instead of perfect rhymes. However, use of slant rhyme is generally discouraged, especially to the amateur poet, since the experimental uses of slant rhyme often use alliterative effects with their rhyming.

There are also words that look similar to each other, but in reality do not actually rhyme. This is called a Sight Rhyme. Some examples include, ‘love’ and ‘cove’, ‘cough’ and ‘tough’, etc.

Another common pitfall is the improper placement of the rhymed words within the rhythmic beat of the line. It is preferable to place the rhymed syllable on the stressed beat of the phrase, for both emphasis and for a pleasing sound. This is called a Perfect Rhyme. However, when the syllable is positioned in an unstressed beat, or if the syllable is usually unstressed but placed on a stressed beat, the sound is discordant with the rest of the piece, and the rhyming loses its effectiveness. This type of rhyme, called Imperfect Rhyme, is sometimes necessary in a piece. However, it should nonetheless be avoided whenever possible. Please refer to the Rhythm article for further detail on stressed/unstressed beats.

The other thing to be concerned about is the position of the rhymed word within the line. In this respect, there is End Rhyme, and Internal Rhyme.

In End Rhyme, or ‘tail rhyme’, the rhymed words are positioned at the ends of the respective lines. It is always best if the rhymed word ends the phrase as well as the line. It gives the poem a neater, more polished feeling. For example:

“And I think of Camus and consider those keys
unlocking the land of do-as-you-please.”

In Internal Rhyme, the rhymed words are positioned within the same line. These rhymed words should be positioned rhythmically equidistant from each other. This may be used concurrently with End Rhyme. For example:

“O black abyss of macabre bliss, O home of shadows fell:
My mind names and yet disdains you as the mouth of Hell.”

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Rhyme in prose builds upon the same concepts of rhyme in poetry. Its uses, however, are much more limited. Rhyme should only be used if it both sounds good, makes logical sense, and if the words require special emphasis. For example, “She drank: once, twice, thrice, fire down the throat.”

The very conspicuousness of rhyme in prose makes it an inappropriate tool in most cases. In the more formal, elegant pieces, rhyme should probably not be used at all. Indeed, even in the most wild of prose, use of rhyme should be limited to once or twice per thousand words.

There are special uses for rhyme, however. In advertising, be it a restaurant, a hair product, or a title for a story, it is a simple and effective way to make something stand out. For example, the movie title Kill Bill employs rhyme. Jocular uses are also quite popular, and are not as restricted as more profound writing. For example: “She’s a fishy one, with no more soul than a sole.”

Perfect rhyme is preferable; indeed, it’s arguably the only type of rhyme accepted in prose writing. Imperfect rhyme and slant rhyme creates a discordant feel, as it does in poetry; however, it sounds even more rough and unpolished. In prose, inadvertent slant rhyme is a fairly common occurrence; being aware of slant rhyme while editing can help you avoid it. Considering prose has far fewer restrictions than poetry, this is an easy thing to work around. For example: “All was black and blue, like a bruise.” ‘blue’ and ‘bruise’ are slant rhymes of each other. However, If you change either of them to any available synonyms, you also lose the sense of alliteration. To avoid the sense of a slant rhyme, you can change the order of the words so the words in question are further away from each other: “All was blue and black, like a bruise.”

 

Both prose and poetry rhyming is best practiced in structured poetry, progressing from less complicated forms, such as the limerick or the villanelle, and then on to the sonnet forms and onwards.

All examples left unsourced are by the author of the article.