Essay Non-Fiction posted September 15, 2008


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Is every mistake as mistaken as we first thought?

All your Rhymes really don't Work

by adewpearl

A short quiz for all those who review poetry on this site. Have you docked points from a poem or pointed out instances in a poem of unsuccessful rhymes that don't quite cut it? What do you think of the following not-quite rhymes?
a. bodies/ladies
b. on/moon
c. flash/flesh
d. blade/blood
e. teeth/death
f. apple/supple
g. brow/glow
h. worms/converge
i. soul/all
j. port/chart

Have you gently or not so gently reminded fellow writers that rhymes such as these need a little work? If so, following is a list of the poets who committed these particular offenses.
a. William Butler Yeats
b. Yeats again
c. Wilfred Owen
d. Wilfred Owen
e. Wilfred Owen
f. Wilfred Owen - and the man made all four of these "errors" in the same
poem!
g. Lord Byron
h. Sylvia Plath
i. Emily Dickinson
j. Emily Dickinson - she was particularly prone to this - examples are many

This is not even close to an exhaustive list of English and American poets of some stature who have employed slant rhyme, also known as approximate rhyme, oblique rhyme or off rhyme. They all did it on purpose! Most of them used perfect rhyme a great deal of the time, but peppered their poetry with these almost-rhymes as a conscious choice, to surprise, to avoid a forced rhyme, to be more subtle.

I would simply ask reviewers to consider this before they scold. Reread the lines - does it really sound as if the poet did not notice he or she had failed to rhyme perfectly, or does it sound as though perhaps the poet was employing this technique for effect? Sometimes it might well be just an error on the part of a person who is yet honing his or her craft. And other times, it might be more. Just a little something to ponder.
One more point to clarify in case I have misspoken. I in no way want to suggest any poet on this site or anywhere else is above criticism or is above suggestions for revision. My complaint is not with people who make constructive criticism but with reviewers who review in a scolding way in a tone that implies their style of writing is the only acceptable style and anyone who deviates from that style must be making mistakes since there is no other reason a writer would choose a style different from the reviewer's.



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