Matt:
Hi, I'm Matt. This is Sydney Story Factory, and we're here to find out what's with poetry? I'm actually really excited that it's just the two of us here today. I've got something very special and I'm a bit…
Kai:
Hey look!
Matt:
What was all that?
New Speaker:
I don't know, Matt.
Matt:
Was that the egg of a rhyming bird?
New Speaker:
What you just said was totally absurd.
New Speaker:
[music]
Matt:
Well, now I suppose is as good as any time to talk to you about poetry and rhyme. Does a poem have to rhyme? The answer is no. So you say, well, forget it. And I'm like, whoa. The reasons to rhyme in a poem can be numerous. For starters, a surprising rhyme can be humourous. Again, it's a balance of rules and of chaos. If you break them convincingly, you can always sway us. Now a rhyme that doesn't quite match might be purposely broken. It might look fine on the page and sound weird when spoken. And why? It might be to make us pause and think more. The battle's best won are those hardest fought for. Occasionally a poet might try to make things tough and trip up our speech with a burr or a cut… Cough? A cough. Tough.
Matt:
How to talk about rhyme structure? Call your first line 'A' and also everyone that ends sounding the same way. When you have a new sound, call that line 'B' and so on and so on. The options just go on. But let's write it down 'cause it's easier to see. There was a young girl from Woolloomooloo, who was fascinated by what electricity could do. She got struck by lightening, which at first was quite frightening, but she cut her family's power bill in two. Now that kind of poem is called a limerick. You might write one for a laugh, just dash it off real quick. So some poems that rhyme are a novelty. While others show care through specificity. You might write a poem to make a new lover swoon or write one in remembrance of a loved one gone too soon. The government employs rhymes to inspire pride in nation, or you might use them when you study to remember information. A rhyme can be used to arouse action or feeling.
Matt:
It's a bit of a trick, a kind of emotional stealing. Your brain is just so happy the rhyme is completed. It will go along with anything once that sound is repeated. Now, like I said, rhyming is a choice. Each poet will write with their own distinct voice. So will your poems rhyme? Well, that is up to you. And how much of a challenge you want to put your reader through. Here's something interesting you might try to attempt. Take a subject that's usually exempt of frivolous joy and set that to rhyme. How does your reader feel about it this time? There's always something to be said about mixing sweet and sour. Rhyming really does give a poet extra power.
Kai:
Why are you talking like that?
Matt:
You dropped a rhyming bird egg upon the floor and now all must rhyme, it's Story Factory law.
Kai:
There's no such thing as a rhyming bird.
Matt:
Oh yeah, you're right.