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Wildblue Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary

Rhyme Change

Hi. This is the second stanza of a poem by Andrew Marvell, titled, "To His Coy Mistress". My question is about the end rhymes in bold. All the rhymes in the rest of the poem are in a way complete or perfect, but the words "lie" and "eternity" don't seem to be a perfect couple. Why is that? Is this something that they call 'half rhyme'? I've read somewhere that while reading a poem aloud, one should not change the pronunciation of words in a way the he/she thinks is the right way. Thank you in advance for your help.

"But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near:
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity."
  

Top answer

Although the rhyme scheme of the poem follows a simple couplet pattern (AA, BB, and so on), two couplets use slant or irregular rhyme, not simply to vary the monotonous pattern but to reinforce the poem's theme. " The first couplet suggests that the future that lies before us is in no way desirable: "deserts of vast eternity" imply a menacing rather than consoling future state. The irregularity of rhyme draws us back to the uneven but human irregularities of life in the present.

— Fivejedjon

  • Although the rhyme scheme of the poem follows a simple couplet pattern (AA, BB, and so on), two couplets use slant or irregular rhyme, not simply to vary the monotonous pattern but to reinforce the poem's theme.
  • " The first couplet suggests that the future that lies before us is in no way desirable: "deserts of vast eternity" imply a menacing rather than consoling future state.
  • The irregularity of rhyme draws us back to the uneven but human irregularities of life in the present.
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18 Answers
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Although the rhyme scheme of the poem follows a simple couplet pattern (AA, BB, and so on), two couplets use slant or irregular rhyme, not simply to vary the monotonous pattern but to reinforce the poem's theme. Lines 23 and 24 use the approximate rhyme "lie/eternity"; lines 27 and 28 repeat this irregularity: "try/virginity." The first couplet suggests that the future that lies before us is in
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Dear fivejedjon,
Thank you very much.
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Another reason is that the words actually did rhyme when the poem was written in the 1650's. The Great Vowel Shift (1400-1750) had not yet run its course, and there were, of course, regional pronunciation differences.
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AlpheccaStarsthe words actually did rhyme
Any idea whether the rhyme was with modern "ee" or "eye"? (Or something else?)

CJ
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http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/vowels.html

According to this site (Harvard), the vowel shift affected the long stressed vowels, and there was an exchange between the long e sound and the long i sound over time. I don't know enough of both spelling and vowel sounds changes to hazard a gues
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Thanks, A.S. I didn't mean for you to take all that trouble to research it. I just thought you might know off the top of your head.

In any case, it seems that those claims about the significance of the lines that don't rhyme, quoted earlier in this thread, are pure gibberish — the irregularity of rhyme suggests the irregularity of life, and all that. I wonder what Andrew would have mad
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Thank you. Should I use the modern pronunciation?
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WildblueShould I use the modern pronunciation?
Yes. Otherwise you'll have to research the pronunciation of every word in the poem to be sure you're pronouncing it exactly as it was at the time the poem was written, and then it might be nearly incomprehensible to modern listeners.

CJ
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CalifJim it might be nearly incomprehensible to modern listeners.
Well, it's not Chaucer; it would be more like Shakespeare..
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Thank you for your help, A.S. and CJ.
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