I said, "Row!", and let's not have a row about it.

[TriciaG]

Also: Only a Briton can rhyme again and rain. I don't even try when I record.

And some Canadians - the ones who use more British pronunciations.

[KevinS]

Also: Only a Briton can rhyme again and rain. I don't even try when I record.

And some Canadians - the ones who use more British pronunciations.

Really? Wow.

[annise]

We were just taught at school that rain and again had what is called a "poetic license" - and to make it rhyme . So we did.


Anne

[KevinS]

We were just taught at school that rain and again had what is called a "poetic license" - and to make it rhyme . So we did.


Anne

Australians take a lot of poetic license. (Wink.)

[KevinS]

In truth, I could listen to most Australians all day long. It's a very pleasant accent.

[kristakz]

Or dove. "The dove dove."

Which leads me to ponder (again), the number of poets who seem to think love rhymes with rove, or prove. I have no clue how to make that work in a poem.

Ah! Those are eye rhymes ... and sometimes slant rhymes. (I use them a lot!) Call it a rhyme and you've got it made. And it really expands the possibilities of a poem. Otherwise we'd always hear June and moon and cat and hat.

Also: Only a Briton can rhyme again and rain. I don't even try when I record.

Hmm. again/rain works perfectly for this Canadian
Reminds me of a children's verse I was reading to my son one day - until I discovered "carriage" rhyming with "garage". Took me months to figure out that particular pronunciation.

[KevinS]

Hmm. again/rain works perfectly for this Canadian
Reminds me of a children's verse I was reading to my son one day - until I discovered "carriage" rhyming with "garage". Took me months to figure out that particular pronunciation.

Haha! What a funny world.

[mightyfelix]

Or dove. "The dove dove."

Which leads me to ponder (again), the number of poets who seem to think love rhymes with rove, or prove. I have no clue how to make that work in a poem.

Ah! Those are eye rhymes ... and sometimes slant rhymes. (I use them a lot!) Call it a rhyme and you've got it made. And it really expands the possibilities of a poem. Otherwise we'd always hear June and moon and cat and hat.

Also: Only a Briton can rhyme again and rain. I don't even try when I record.

Some of this also has to do with the history and evolution of the language, and with when/where the poem was written. There are many rhymes from, say, Shakespeare, that we would consider slant rhymes, but that were true rhyme when he wrote them. Our pronunciations have shifted since then, and not uniformly. By the same token, there are plenty of puns that Shakespeare wrote that we miss entirely, because the words he was punning had the same pronunciation in his day, but not in ours.

[KevinS]

Which leads me to ponder (again), the number of poets who seem to think love rhymes with rove, or prove. I have no clue how to make that work in a poem.

Ah! Those are eye rhymes ... and sometimes slant rhymes. (I use them a lot!) Call it a rhyme and you've got it made. And it really expands the possibilities of a poem. Otherwise we'd always hear June and moon and cat and hat.

Also: Only a Briton can rhyme again and rain. I don't even try when I record.

Some of this also has to do with the history and evolution of the language, and with when/where the poem was written. There are many rhymes from, say, Shakespeare, that we would consider slant rhymes, but that were true rhyme when he wrote them. Our pronunciations have shifted since then, and not uniformly. By the same token, there are plenty of puns that Shakespeare wrote that we miss entirely, because the words he was punning had the same pronunciation in his day, but not in ours.

You're certainly right. And some of Shakespeare's pun were pretty risqué!

[ChristopherW]

Some of this also has to do with the history and evolution of the language, and with when/where the poem was written. There are many rhymes from, say, Shakespeare, that we would consider slant rhymes, but that were true rhyme when he wrote them. Our pronunciations have shifted since then, and not uniformly. By the same token, there are plenty of puns that Shakespeare wrote that we miss entirely, because the words he was punning had the same pronunciation in his day, but not in ours.

You're certainly right. And some of Shakespeare's pun were pretty risqué!

I wonder if pronunciation changed (perhaps during the Victorian era) specifically to "neuter" Shakespeare's more risque puns?