eye rhyme
/ˈī ˌrīm/noun
An eye rhyme, also called a visual rhyme or a sight rhyme, is a rhyme in which two words are spelled similarly but pronounced differently. A similarity between words in spelling but not in pronunciation, e.g., love and move.
This piece of complete silliness started with the Robert Louis Stevenson poem on Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings found here.
It’s ill to break the bonds that God decreed to bind,
Still we’ll be the children of the heather and the wind.
And that eye-rhyme set my brain cranking, so
I had to write it down.
Don’t be thrown
No need to freak
Laugh it off and give me a break.
To your complaints, I am quite deaf.
No hope I’ll ever turn that fresh new leaf.
Eye Rhyme Blues
If you’re feeling down and rough –
(Perhaps you have a nasty cough) –
And think your life is in a bind
And your future’s gone with the wind.
You feel you’re cooked, like a goose
With very little left to choose,
Like a bottle that’s popped its cork
Tired of all the tedious work.
Things couldn’t really get much worse,
You’re in a race without a horse.
You just want to fall on your sword.
So – I offer this cheering word:
Things might be worse – they really could –
In the ground and covered in mould.
It’s true, you feel it like a wound,
But still, – joy really can be found.
But do not ask me where or how
Today I’m feeling rather low.
Paul Taylor (b.1961)
University of Cumbria
How very bauched of you!
I didn’t think of that one!
How bilitated of you.
Got any more?
One of the great uses of English! A lot of fun.
I enjoyed this; enjoyed the clever silliness 🙂
I thought of you thinking of my eye. That’s where I found joy.
Love it! Clever and effective!
Wondrous! I loved this post
Thanks to you, and of course Pretty
Neither of whom ever petty.
The post about your getting together –
Came to me out of the ether.
Fourteen years on – lots more to come –
Forgive me for this dreadul pome.
Wonderful wordplay. (K)
Thank for your words so kindly said
Almost like you were getting paid
I know that cannot be the case
And this is not a passing phase
Kindness is your usual move
Earning you universal love.
Simply
A good reply
It is said that words when sounding,
Are not meant to be wounding,
But no matter how often we hear,
That they are easy to bear,
They still can hurt.
If you’re feeling down and bleak
Just find a pan and cook a steak.
But if you are not into meat
Curly kale is just as great.
Maybe a trip to London town
(If you’re vaxxed and fully grown)
From Tooting Bec to Hampstead Heath
You can hardly catch your breath
So many things there are to do
Always busy, on the go.
Tired of London? – Sam Johnson said:
In the grave you have been laid.
Oh please, not London town,
Where common sense has flown!
I’d rather stay six thousand miles from
The Tories’ gruesome prom.
What fun! Loves these, Josie:)
Thanks. And yes – lots of fun. Wondering how many more I can find.
Lol, that’s great! I’d not thought about eye-rhymes much, but they’re all over poetry aren’t they?
Even if you’re chased by a bear
You will have no cause for fear.
Whatever thing to your way comes
You will always have your tomes.
Because whatever silly threat
Be it small or even great
Your books give your mind the food
So evil loses out to good.
This points up the limitations of phonic letter-sound resemblances as a system of decoding !
Yes. It certainly does undermine that entrenched notion of reading “instruction.”
This concept of eye rhymes is new to me. Your bluesy poem is terrific and illuminates the idea magnificently. Thank you for teaching me something new today!
It’s utter silliness, but thank you.