To rhyme or not to rhyme?
A few more thoughts arising from the exchanges about doggerel. It seems to me that we tend too easily to equate 'rhyme' with 'conventional' and lack of rhyme with 'contemporary' or 'experimental'. This is reinforced by the rare appearance of rhymed poetry in the poetry magazines these days. A little historical perspective may help to correct this.
Rhyme only appears in western poetry about 1000 years ago. It was never a feature of ancient Greek, Latin or Anglo-Saxon poetry and first came in with Latin hymns written by the Latin-speaking monks. From them it spread to the vernacular languages derived from Latin, like Dante's Italian, and so to English by the time of Chaucer.
To the extent that poetry is a form of song, however, some kind of artificial patterning has always been needed. Rhyme may have started as one way of helping the memory in times when writing was unknown to most people. It has never been the sole form of patterning at any period in English poetry.
Poetry that gives up on any form of aural (as opposed to visual) patterning severs its link to song. Much contemporary verse uses very subtle patterns and while this can be a delight to those attuned to it, for many people, for whom reading poetry is an important but occasional activity, some form of rhyme will always be as essential as chunks in the marmalade.
- 127 reads
And They Made Rhyme...
...to paraphrase our own Kaaren Whitney.
This is very interesting to those of us who are new to poetry and know little of its history.
I have come from song writing, and although I do not always use rhyming form, it often seems a useful counterpart to rhythm. Even though I write songs, I am aware that I often do not listen to lyrics until I am more familiar with a song. Rhyme probably helps get a handle on songs.
I have read an essay on poetry by Edgar Allan Poe. He emphasises rhythm as being crucial to poetry. He doesn't make much, if any, mention of rhyme, although he obviously used it.
Personally I take rhyme and rhythm as being tools in my toolbox, to be used as and when appropriate. If a workman came to my house to do a job, I wuld not be at all surprised if he took a power screwdriver from his bag. I would be very surprised if I looked into his bag and didn't also find a manual screwdriver. Both have their place.
I do not understand artists who throw away half of their tools, especially if it is because they are 'old-fashioned'.
What I would argue is that when rhyme is required the poet should strive not to head for the nearest, cheapest rhyme. The task is to surprise, not to provide the obvious or expected.
Sometimes rhyme distracts from the message of the poem; it isn't always appropriate.
When I choose to use rhyme it is because I think it provides a drive and impact. It can be more than a screwdriver. It is a hammer drill.
colin