Toe in the Water

A Thought on Rhyme

A Thought on Rhyme

I never used to like rhyme. Seemed a bit too close to the old advertising jingle, nursery rhyme kinda thing, if you know what I mean. And I couldn’t see the point of barring oneself from the word that means exactly what you want to say, merely because it doesn’t fit with the rhyming pattern.

But I’ve read stuff from some very capable rhymers in WdC and recently persuaded myself to give it a go. Did comic rhyme initially as it seemed the most suitable. Which it was, considering my inexperience of the matter. Started to use it a bit more extensively as I found it had its compensations. Moved it into more serious realms.

Then I started linking it to established meters and forms. And fell head over heels in love with trochaic tetrameter, the form that Longfellow wrote The Song of Hiawatha in. No doubt it’s a temporary craze but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. It’s so insistent on the reader slipping into its rhythm, almost as overpowering as the limerick but not as trivial. Sure, it threatens to tip over into ditty at any moment but not if you keep the subject matter serious.

But I was talking about rhyme. And today I realised a rule that I’ve been applying without knowing it. Rhyme has to be flexible in that it needs a reverse gear as well as forward. Meaning that it’s a mistake to get your first line written and then search for a rhyme for the second line. It’s a matter of finding the right words before either line becomes settled. Sometimes the first line has to change its clothes completely so that the second can look as smart as it should.

And that’s when rhyme begins to assume its correct place in the toolbox. When the first line doesn’t dictate to the second but they work together, away go all those contrived rhymes that smack the reader in the eye and leave a bad taste. Rhyme can hide as though camouflaged when allowed to work as a team.

So I guess this old free verser is at least a partial convert. But I still go free when it really matters.


Word count: 369