eye rhyme

In this anagrammatical context, "sea" in "sea one pearl" is a pun that not only describes the ocean blanched by dawn but also exhorts the reader to see the repeated "-ea-" letters in "sea one pearl." This insertion of micromoments of graphic sameness within sonic difference is not only another way that Swinburne synaesthetically coheres sound and sight but also a performance of, and therefore an argument for, eye rhyme.

Swinburne furthers his performative argument on behalf of eye rhyme by also encoding hypograms ("theme words" that hide below the surface of a text in an encrypted dissemination).

Like anagrams, hypograms juxtapose graphic repetition (the buried hypogram "-ear-") against sonic difference (the different words that contain the hypogram), so hypograms are also complex performances of and arguments for eye rhyme. But in the hypograms, rather than the similarly spelled word endings "rhyming" (for example, "rough ...

Ever since, I have continued to dive almost daily for the treasure of additional eye rhymes. You know how it is: We logologists get swept away by a letter-perfect, endlessly undulating concept, and we drown ecstatically in its depths and its shallows.

Eye rhymes (or sight rhymes) are words that look like rhymes bur they don't sound like rhymes.

Eye rhymes provide dramatic testimony to the phoneme-grapheme chasm that stretches across our glorious, notorious, uproarious, outrageous, courageous, contagious, stupendous, tremendous, end-over-endous English language.

The pairing of anger and danger demonstrates the possibility of semantic kinship between eye rhymes. Other specimens include here-there, your-our, ponder-wonder, height-weight, hover-over, alliance-dalliance, primal-animal, and power-mower.

The quiz at the end of this article adds yet another hundred duos of eye rhymes, further proving that simple pairs are sitting ducks easily flushed out.

But before the parade of lists, let's establish the criteria for what constitutes genuine, authentic, certified eye rhymes:

Thus, the likes of rice-licorice, dual-individual, limb-climb, liar-familiar, dial-medial, rosy-leprosy, nasty-dynasty, tiny-destiny, nature-signature, reign-foreign, riot-patriot, trophy-dystrophy, near-linear, clear-nuclear, slaughter-laughter, jealousy-lousy, dragon-paragon, promise-compromise, and science-conscience-prescience do not qualify as eye rhymes.

Such examples are permitted because the convention for eye rhymes is that the viewer pretends to be deaf and focuses only on the identity of the crucial vowel and all succeeding letters.

We permit such examples because the convention for eye rhymes is that the viewer pretends to be deaf and focuses only on the identity of the crucial vowel and all succeeding letters.

The intrepid hunter-gatherer logologist experiences a tingling sensation when such a promising category of words comes into view, but capturing double eye rhymes presents no challenge.

Thus, the likes of rice-licorice, dual-individual, limb-climb, liar-familiar, dial-medial, rosy-leprosy, and cough-hiccough do not qualify as eye rhymes.