To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme
Good day, humans of the Universe. I suspect many of you reading this article are holed up in your homes, braving the pandemic under the confines of lock-downs and quarantine. I also suspect that most of you, who are used to socializing and meeting people every day, are itching to get out, and see faces — familiar, unfamiliar, it doesn’t matter. You’d talk to the vegetable vendor if you had to.
The importance of cultivating good indoor habits and hobbies is one of great magnitude, but not something I will be writing about today. Instead, I will bring your attention to a specific, traditionally-indoor activity, that can, of course, be extrapolated to just about any location in the Universe — the art of poetry.
The great literary masterpieces of this world have ranged from the epics like War and Peace, Ramayana and The Lord of the Rings to memorable paperbacks that one carries around, adaptable to romantic comedies (take the iconic P.S, I Love You, for instance) or crime series. Why then, does poetry fall into a class of its own? Why is it given prominence as a separate literary category, despite having its own renditions of fantasy, crime, tragedy and the like? What makes it so strikingly different from what we label ‘prose’?
There is an inherent rhythm to a poem. What is often termed ‘meter’ in the world of critics, penmasters and English students, is often just simply a specific flow and structure in the written word. It is how the language lilts as though rippling down a stream, stumbling gracefully upon the stones, making an impact. It is evocative of the flow of thought; where the train of thought pauses, a line ends.
It is no surprise then, that the simplest and yet often the most taxing way to frame a poetic rendition of anything, is to rhyme. People often associate poems with rhyme, when it is simply not the case most of the time. Personally, I have taken to not rhyming my lines when writing, because I find it restrictive and somewhat not in tune with what I want my work to convey. Rhymes bring a composition closer to the realm of music, closer to putting words to a melody. The right mix of phrases, with the right beat, set to the right notes can produce the next big hit, as evidenced by a lot of contemporary rappers, legendary bands, pop stars and other artistes. Do listen to Coldplay’s Viva la Vida for an example of some quality rhyming in contemporary musical culture.
Why is rhyming such an effective tool? Years of linguistic and phonetic study have brought to our attention the very important fact, that humans use sound and beat as primary attention points, after the visual tool that our eyes bring to us. One is more likely to associate a certain impression with a composition or an audible piece, if it is attunable to a specific rhythm, with some sort of repetition. In this case, we find the literary tool of rhyme to be an effective means of ingraining the rhythmic stanzas in our brain. If you have noticed, rhyme is an effective learning tool used from early age, simply because it is the easiest way to convey some sort of similarity in idea, or just for the sake of easy recollection.
There are many beautiful and entertaining works that embrace the concept of rhyme, such as Wordsworth’s Daffodils, or Tennyson’s The Brook — popular textbook classics of the essential English poetry society. These poems illustrate concepts that are seemingly obvious, catering to aesthetic description and engaging the imagery perspective of the reader. Since the focus here is primarily on simple concepts, rhyme is used as a tool to enhance the charm of the poem, to add something extra to it, shall we say. I think it is an effort to make the poem sound less like a coffee table book description of a picture, and more to sketch out the visual in a way that is artistic and appealing.
An exception to this rule, I would say, would be Invictus, by William Ernest Henley, and it is a heart-stirring short work of words that encapsulates some very strong thoughts in rhyme. It’s also excellent for self-motivation, in some ways, so I would suggest that you read it eventually.
Free verse in poems is often employed in complex concepts, in particular, those dealing with emotion, loss, feeling, people, personality and the psyche. It is logical that this would be the case, because all of the above elements are susceptible to change, unconstrained by thought , and definitely not limited to a specific rhyme scheme, which would only take away from the core of the piece. Some prime examples of this form of writing can be found in Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey, which is a widely debated collection of poetry and prose centered on serious themes; another example is a classic anthology of poems by Walt Whitman, called Leaves of Grass.
Blank verse is sort of a mish between the two, not adhering to a rhyme scheme as such, but still rooted strongly in meter. Many great names like Shakespeare and Milton, if only to bring some sort of sound pattern into the work, thus connecting the words they write to an auditory medium. This style of writing brought epic works like Paradise Lost into society, and at the moment, seems to be employed in many such ballad-like or, to be more correct, narrative and dramatic poems.
In any case, the dilemma about whether or not to rhyme your lines is simply not worth worrying your head over. As a poet, you will feel it within you. The choice to transform your work into a rhythmic chant, a story-like visualization, a confession of the deepest corners of your soul — all lies with you. If you feel constrained by the fetters of rhyme, try your hand at blank verse, and if that doesn’t fit the bill, free verse is all yours to play with. For poetry is indeed a masterful canvas, waiting to be painted, illustrated, left blank for artistic interpretation, but mainly waiting for you, as a person, to open a channel into the void and pour out whatever wild ideas, dreams and thoughts your mind and heart possess, into the infinite perception of humankind.
Happy writing!
