Rhymes

It is written a couple hundred of years ago if that makes any difference by the way!

That is not an exact rhyme in any dialect that I am aware of. However, approximate rhymes are sometimes used in poetry.

They don't rhyme now, but the pronunciation of one (or both) of them may have changed over the years. You'll find there are quite a few old poems with rhymes that no longer work.

Anonymous It is written a couple hundred of years ago if that makes any difference by the way!

I'm not sure about pronunciation at that time though -- whether it ever could have been a rhyme.

GPYHowever, approximate rhymes are sometimes used in poetry.

Wikipedia even has an article on it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_rhyme

What is the poem? (Author, title)

I have seen these lines in an old hymn (still being sung), with lyrics by Isaac Watts:

O ***, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And out eternal home.

It goes on with other examples of half rhyme.
stood/***
gone/sun

Home and come are rather close phonetically and are entirely okay for poetry, where the poet has much license with words. For example, even less close approximate rhymes are used in poetry: cat/hate, grass/add, pin/climb, etc.

You also have to watch out for old language, as dialects were far more present then than they are now. Pronunciation changes with both time and place. d