Poetry: Rhythm & Rhyme — Meaning and Feeling
Poems tell things likepeople tell stories
likepeople give public speeches
likepeople confide secrets to us in private
RHYTHM tells us things like how the poem’s voice moves: fast or slow, strong and powerful OR funny and joking OR soft and whispering OR hinting. We have to put our own voices into the rhythm we recognize to figure out who the speaker is and how she is talking to us.
RHYTHM that is very strong gives emphasis to the voice. Rhythm that shifts and stumbles and changes pace, like the rhythms of our normal speech, feels more informal.
RHYME is when words ‘sound the same’. Rhyming words tend to share the same ending sounds. Our brains like detecting similarities. We get a little *ting* of pleasure when our brains notice a rhyme. And when rhymes follow strong rhythmic patterns, our brains march along with the rhythmic rhymes. Our brains learn to expect to hear a new rhyme at the next place in the poem’s rhythm.
Just as rhythm gives pattern and emphasis to the sounds of somebody talking, RHYME puts an extra *BANG* on rhythm and on the words that are rhymed. They’re flashy. We get to ask, “If these words rhyme, are they important words?”
Poems make us feel things while the poem’s voice (or it’s character’s voice) tells us. ASK THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT RHYTHM AND RHYME:
-- What is the overall feeling?
-- What does the rhythm or tune of the poem remind you of?
-- Are there specific words that strengthen your feelings and ideas?
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go
**Lines that keep the same rhythm pattern through the whole poem have regular rhythm. Lines that have rhymes that you can predict at the end of particular lines are end-rhymed. Regular rhythm, assisted by end rhymes, are powerful. They make our brains march. Most nursery rhymes use them. (Lots of pop songs do too.) BUT they don’t automatically make a poem good. Their powerful sounds might not relate to important meanings.**
Ogden Nash —
Tiny tots of either sex
Adore Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Indeed, all little ones adore
Any savage carnivore.[Where was the rhythm-shift?]
Ogden Nash —
The old dog barks backwards without getting up.
I can remember when he was a pup.[Which line sounds slow. Which quick?]
Poems have special signals that help us hear the rhythm of the voice speaking to us. The signals are controlled by punctuation. When you see a ‘Slow Down’ or ‘Hold A Moment’ or ‘Stop!’ punctuation, then follow the signs and slow, or pause, or stop! REMEMBER: Slow/Pause/Stop signals can occur inside lines, as well as at the ends of lines. When you see a HOLD signal inside a line it is called a CAESURA [say-SOOR-uh or say-ZOOR-uh].
Also, there is no rule that you need to *pause* at the end of a poem’s line. If you don’t see a punctuation sign signalling Slow/Pause/Stop then KEEP READING right to the next line. The wrap-around makes the movement from previous line to next FAST. It speeds things up. Any time a line ends without signalling to slow down, we say the line has an ENJAMBMENT [en-JAMB-ment]. A door jamb is the point where it turns on its hinges. An ENJAMBED LINE turns right to the next line.
Gwendolyn Brooks (1963) — We Real Cool
THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Langston Hughes —I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
W.B. Yeats (1899) —“He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven”
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
William Blake —The Lamb
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
William Blake —TheTyger
TygerTyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
TygerTyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Stevie Smith —The Hound of Ulster
Little boy
Will you stop
And take a look
In the puppy shop –
Dogs blue and liver
Noses aquiver
Little dogs big dogs
Dogs for sport and pleasure
Fat dogs meagre dogs
Dogs for lap and leisure.
Do you see that white-haired terrier?
Could anything be merrier?
Do you see that Labrador retriever?
His name is Belvoir.[BEL-vwaw]
Thank you courteous stranger, said the child,
By your words I am beguiled,
But tell me I pray
What lurks in the gray
Cold shadows at the back of the shop?
Little boy do not stop
Come away from the puppy shop.
For the Hound of Ulster lies tethered there
Cuchulainn tethered by his golden hair[Koo-CULL-an]
His eyes are closed and his lips are pale
Hurry little boy he is not for sale.
e. e. cummings—[in Just-]
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lameballoonman
whistles far and wee
andeddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
oldballoonman whistles
far and wee
andbettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee
Wallace Stevens —The Emperor of Ice-Cream
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds. [‘filled with desire, lustful’]
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be the finale of seem. [‘the end of seeming’]
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Take from the dresser of deal, [cheap wood]
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.