Half Rhyme - Academic Mode

Definition of half rhyme
Half rhyme is one of the most important poetic means. It is also referred to as "imperfect rhyme", "crooked rhyme", "close rhyme" or "crooked rhyme". It can be defined as a rhyme in which the stressed syllables of the final consonants match but the preceding vowels do not match.

For example, the consonance in words like “form” and “keep” is very strong. The final consonant tones remain similar, but the final vowels differ in half rhyme. Similar to these two words "moon" and "running" and the words "hold" and "bald", the final consonant tones are similar, while vowels sound different.

It is generally used to create an inharmonious feeling in a rhyme scheme. Poets can create variations in their choice of words by using half rhymes. It is also known as imperfect, near, absent, or feathered rhyme. Half rhyme is used solely as a poetic means.

Difference with para-rhyme and assonance
Half-rhyme is not perfect rhyme And it must not be confused with para-rhyme or assonance. While these two literary means are somewhat similar to half rhyme, there is a slight difference between them. In Para-rhyme, the consonant tones at the end and at the beginning are similar to those in the words "stick" and "red". In agreement, the vowels are also similar, as in “Schuss” and “Los”.

Examples of Half a Rhyme in Literature
Henry Vaughan was the first English poet to use half a rhyme in his poems in literary works before Gerard Manley Hopkins and W.Yeats who introduced this device into their works. Slant / Half Rhyme has since become very popular with writers and English poets. They began to use this poetic device extensively in their works especially in the 20th century.

Let's look at some examples of half a rhyme:

Example 1: For my wife (by George Wolff)
"If love is like a bridge
or maybe like a resentment,
and time is like a river
that kills us with a chill,
th what have all these mornings mean, but to age in love? This verse in which the final consonant tones of "bridge" and "grudge" are similar. These two don't fully rhyme, however, which makes them perfect examples of half a rhyme.

Example 2: In Dejection (By W.Yeats)
“When was the last time I looked at
? The round green eyes and the long swaying bodies
From the dark leopards of the moon?
All wild witches, these noble ladies ... ”

Here half the rhyme is used in the first and third lines of the words and moon.

Example 3: Sailing to Byzantium (By W.Yeats)
“ This is no country for old men. The boys
In each other's arms praise birds in the trees
- These dying generations - at their song
The salmon falls, the seas overflowing with mackerel,
Fish, meat or poultry all summer
Whatever is conceived, born and died.
Caught in this sensual one Music neglects all
monuments of the immemorial intellect. “

The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABABABCC. A couplet is followed by an altered, irregular rhyme. If Yeats hadn't used the altered half-rhyme style in this poem, he would have become the Italian form specifically used for heroic epics.

Example 4: Emily Dickinson (The grave is no higher)
“The grave does not stand higher than men -
Not closer to the child
Than numb Three dots and ten - "

The words" men "and" ten "rhyme and show us an example of a perfect rhyme in that first stanza. But we can compare this stanza to the next, to then to understand the imperfect or half rhyme, as the poet says on: 40 a4
"This latest free time is synonymous with a break
The beggar and his queen;
Propitate this democrat
By the amiable face of summer."

Function of the half rhyme
Help a poet Create unusual series of words to create a variety of rhyming effects, esp especially when used with other poetic effects devices and rhyme schemes. They help poets avoid the typical sing-song chiming effects of full rhyme and give them creative freedom. Also, half rhymes have provided a subtle discordant note that doesn't give absolute harmony, but variation in provides tone and creates a good effect on readers. When half-rhymes are used with other poetic means, they give the reader shocking effects over the actual rhyme scheme.