Light rhyme designates a weakened, or unaccented, rhyme that pairs a stressed final syllable with an unstressed one. [1] [2] A rhyme of this kind is also referred to as a wrenched rhyme since the pronunciation of the unstressed syllable is forced into conformity with the stressed syllable of its rhyme mate (eternity/free). [3] Light rhymes are commonly found in music where words are sung with an unnatural emphasis on the final syllable. [2]
Examples
In the 1917 poem “ Preludes” T.S. Eliot used the light rhyme to evoke the uneasiness felt by an individual isolated from society in a modern urban setting.
- The winter evening settles down
- With smell of steaks in passageways.
- Six o'clock.
- The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
- And now a gusty shower wraps
- The grimy scraps
- Of withered leaves about your feet
- […]
See also
References
- ^ Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. Merriam-Webster. 1995.
- ^ a b Davis, Sheila (1988). Successful Lyric Writing.
- ^ New Oxford Rhyming Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2012.