Post
by Peely » Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:49 pm
G'day All
In my own opinion, I think that near rhyme does have a place in bush poetry. I think that it can be used quite successfully for effect, however if it is overused, the poetry starts to sound more like blank verse or free verse (depending on whether the writer has a good or bad knowledge of metre). As has been pointed out, there are many examples in the writing of a number of the early bush poets. 'Bellbirds' by Henry Kendall is a very early bush poem that uses a number of near rhymes. There are un-accented rhymes (torrents - currents, ever - river, sorest - forest). 'Childhood' and 'wildwood' are not a true double rhyme - in a true double rhyme, the unaccented syllable is a repeated sound, not a rhymed sound as in this example. The nearness in sound to a true double rhyme is what makes it work. Otherwise, there is a singular with a plural (summer - far-comers). 'Tresses' and 'wildernesses' is another interesting one, noting that the end part of wildernesses isn't normally stressed.
Near rhymes can be slotted in where the lines are enjambed quite successfully - any difference in sound can often be ran on into the opening sound of the next line. An example might be:
"...in the pub their town is built around
that's called, 'The Riverside'." (pinched from one of my own poems)
In the example, I have rhymed 'town' with 'around' and the 'd' sound runs in fairly smoothly with the 'th'. I'll let you make your own minds up as to whether or not my choice of rhymes was lazy, but this one seems to work OK for me.
The use of near rhyme is much more obvious where the lines are end-stopped (finished with a natural pause - for example a full stop, comma or semi-colon) particularly when the lines are badly written. For example:
"And one day in the future when my living I have earned -
I'll be finished in the city, to the bush I will return." (pinched from an old poem of mine, pre-editing - the edited lines are much better, thankfully)
The above can be looked at as lazy writing. Both lines contain phrase inversions to give a poor rhyming pair.
To sum up, provided that the lines are well written and the technique is used sparingly, I think that near rhyme does have a place.
Regards
John Peel
As an aside, I wouldn't consider assonance as a form of rhyme, I would suggest the reverse. Rhyme is a special case of assonance - all rhyming pairs of words contain assonance.
John Peel - The Man from Gilmore Creek
It's not a bad poem for a modern muso. 
Now my head is reeling - your detailed explanation is excellent and will I am sure be a help to many people - makes me realize yet more shortcomings in my own work - oh well - back to the drawing board and it's always a good day when you came learn something new. Thank you John