Tag Archives: rhyme

Adventures with a Rhyming Dictionary

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I’ve just been looking up words that rhyme with vole. I already had hole, sole, soul, mole and ball in mind.

I was surprised, on checking an on-line rhyming dictionary, to find krumholz in it. One, because I’ve only just learnt the word and two, because I would never pronounce it to rhyme with vole. I always thought anything Germanic ending in -z had a ts sound at the end, and pronounce krumholz to rhyme with waltz. It’s not been a major issue because I’ve only ever read the word until now. This is the first time I’ve written it and I’ve never said it out loud.

They are trees on mountains which have grown up stunted by the weather. I first saw the word in a poetry magazine a couple of months ago.

I never thought I would ever need to use the word, as my life, generally, doesn’t take me up any mountains.

Another quick look suggets azoles (anti-fungal drugs), polls (which might be a bit too topical for Americans at the moment), and rissoles. The last one is, I admit, close to a word I was thinking of using. Actually, so is the first one.

I do like fumarole (a vent in or near a volcano from which hot gases, especially steam, are emitted) , but it may be a bit dramatic for a short poem about cute, furry animals.

Talking about cute furry animals, what do you think about mink? Apart from them being vicious predators of water voles they are, it seems, a reservoir of infection for COVID 19.

I was even more surprised to see that Denmark is still farming mink for furs. The official line always seems to be that Scandinavia is wonderful and the world would be so much better if we all embraced Scandinavian values like hygge, and, it seems, fur farming.

I’ve just spent an interesting ten minutes reading about eugenics, racism and various other things in Scandinavia. I think I might pass on the Scandinavian lifestyle. It’s amazing how we always think our own countries are doing badly, but I feel quite good about the UK after reading about Scandinavia.

 

 

Two New Words

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I have a Word of the Day sent to my email every day, and don’t normally open the message as they aren’t often new words to me. Yesterday I got the word canicular. I wasn’t familiar with it so I clicked to read. It means “of or relating to the period between early July and early September when hot weather occurs in the northern hemisphere”.

So that would be “summer”.

I’m not sure I can think of a use for canicular. Apart from the sentence “I’m not sure I can think of a use for canicular”.

That might be the last time I use it unless I need a rhyme for funicular and have already used particular. That is, realistically speaking, an unlikely scenario. For several reasons.

I do have another new word if you want one – shitsuren. It’s Japanese and it means “broken heart”, “unrequited love” or “disappointed love”. It’s probably as useless as canicular, but much more fun to use. And if I ever write my Limerick cycle on the US Presidents, I will have a rhyme for Martin van Buren.

Political Limericks and Other Poems

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Warning, this post may include tedium. This is particularly true for overseas readers who may not recognise any of the names.

I was intending to write some political limericks last week, but haven’t been firing on all cylinders after being ill. A limerick, with five lines, two rhymes (AABBA) and anapestic meter is trickier than it looks. Even when my brain is replete with fish and purring like a sardine-stuffed cat, questions of metre have a tendency to take the shine off my day.

The answer I adopted, in line with my normal policy of lowering standards to match results, is to cut out all the difficult bits. That would suggest a clerihew, a form often used to make fun of famous figures. The rhymes are easy (AABB) and it has a sensibly easy-going view of line length and metre.

Theresa May

Gave a poll lead away

She lost her majority

and offended her sorority

or

Jeremy Corbyn

Rhymes with next to nothin’

A beardy, weirdy smarty

Who leads the Labour party

To be fair, I’m not sure how smart he is. As long as it isn’t libellous (and I’m pretty sure that accusing politicians of intelligence is not defamatory) I think I’m in the clear as accuracy doesn’t seem too important in clerihews.

Nicola Salmon

Has a tendency to bang on

About places north of the border

That sound a bit like Mordor

Other parties are available, but I can’t remember the names of any of the leaders.

I then had a look at senryu. They are like haiku but without the rules –  no cutting words, no season words and no nature. Seventeen syllables or less. You can include humour and human foibles. They are almost the limerick of Japanese poetry and, apart from throwing a selection of words on the table to see what happens, there can’t be many easier ways to write a poem.

Ripples of applause

A political speech

The sound of lyres

Sorry, it’s a cheap shot but I couldn’t resist.

As for my comment on throwing a selection of words on the table, there is a poet who does that at workshops. I forget her name but she was on Radio Four a couple of weeks ago when it was National Poetry Day. She travels the world with a big bag of words running poetry workshops in a career that makes professional cuddler look almost mainstream.

 

 

 

 

It never rains, but it pours…

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More pom-poms.

More dance rehearsals.

Creative differences with the big song.

Plus rain.

A visit from Social Services.

An accusing phone call from the Safeguarding Team.

Four weeks left and we are going to struggle to end on a high at this rate.

 

It’s raining outside…
A lot of effort going in
dance coach

 

If that was a poem (and it could be, given the short lines and lack of rhyme) I’d call it Wet Wednesday Blues.

In fact, let’s have a go at that.

 

Wet Wednesday Blues

More pom-poms.

I wind wool in my sleep.

More dance rehearsals,

And rain on wet sheep.

Creative differences with the big song…

The sound of belly-dancing bells,

Give me dreams of being stalked by Santa.

If I had been a good boy, I would have presents, not 

A visit from Social Services

And an accusing phone call from the Safeguarding Team.

We are running out of luck,

But with just four weeks to go,

Do I give a fig?

 

I’ll be looking for at least one new career next year. Maybe I’ll cross poet off the list…

(Just to make it clear, we are in trouble for sorting something out ourselves and not involving Social Services and a ream of paper. Can’t really give much more detail – just to say that two weeks ago somebody not connected with the project made a remark that one of the group considered unacceptable and Julia sorted it out that day. It hasn’t happened again but it was reported to Social Services yesterday so they have to investigate.)