Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Great Regulars: Happy are men

who yet before they are killed
Can let their veins run cold.

Does this rhyme? Yes and no. "killed" and "cold" are what is technically known as a para-rhyme--a not-quite rhyme. Owen uses such verbal near-misses to magnificent effect (brothers/withers, fleers/flowers, groined/moaned), to create an eerie effect of dissonance.

from Terry Eagleton: The Times: How to Read a Poem: Part 2: Rhyme and metre

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