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.

Winter Words
Paul Taylor (b.1961)
University of Cumbria
JosieHolford

View Comments

    • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

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