Would rhyme have saved them?
10. THE CHALLENGE FACTOR –Because it is very difficult to do well. Can YOUR ass do it?
9. THE CAUSE AND EFFECT FACTOR–One cannot rhyme well without comprehending and skillfully organizing other aspects of speech, of which rhyme is the crowning emphasis: rhythm, syntax, stress, assonance, alliteration, movement, meaning.
8. THE AGREEMENT FACTOR –We like things to agree. We enjoy symmetry; it is why a crystal or a flower pleases us. Rhyme has this primitive quality.
7. THE HARMONY FACTOR –Since rhyme brings together different words in a purely musical way, it has the ability to harmonize.
6. THE MNEMONIC FACTOR –Rhyme is even utilitarian
5. THE LOVE FACTOR –The poem that rhymes beautifully and delicately is old-fashioned, but love today is old-fashioned. Poetry is traditionally associated with love—and rhyme is traditionally associated with poetry. Leave no doubt in the beloved’s mind that poetry, the real article is your intent. Romeo and Juliet rhymes. Howl does not. Which one puts you in the mood for love?
4. THE PHYSICAL BEAUTY FACTOR –Rhymed speech has the potential to be more tangibly beautiful than speech which does not rhyme. Speech, as speech, possesses neither color, melody, touch, nor scent. Rhyme pleases, and does so physically; rhyme helps talk become a body.
3. THE DIVINE COMEDY FACTOR –Dante’s famous poem is the greatest poem ever written; this Italian work contains so many Italian rhymes that it cannot be translated into English.
2. THE OUT-OF-FASHION FACTOR –The critically acclaimed eschew rhyme–but what if fashion changes? (Which slowly, it seems to be doing.) Knowing rhyme’s intrinsic worth, this is your chance.
1. THE PRETENSE FACTOR –Imagine Dr. Seuss without rhyme. How much of the appeal would be lost? All. How much gained? Nothing. It is not always better to rhyme. Yet the pretentious convince themselves that absence of rhyme, in itself, automatically confers superiority. But as we see from our Dr. Seuss example, the “sophisticated” rationale is baseless. HERE, THEN IS THE NUMBER ONE REASON: faulting rhyme in principle is nothing but pretense.
