As you saw in the Humour and Love sections, a lot of poetry has musical qualities. One way that this is created is through rhythm and rhyme.
Rhythm and rhyme have the same origin – the Greek word rhuthmos – because both are related to the pattern of sound.
Rhythm n. Definition: The beat or movement of something
Synonyms: beat, pace, tempo, metre READ
Earlier in this collection you read a poem by Patrick Kavanagh. Now you will read another poem by him in which the poet describes a memory of his father.
Memory of My Father by Patrick Kavanagh
Every old man I see Reminds me of my father
When he had fallen in love with death One time when sheaves were gathered.
That man I saw in Gardiner Street Stumble on the kerb was one, He stared at me half-eyed, I might have been his son.
And I remember the musician Faltering over his fiddle In Bayswater, London, He too set me the riddle.
D 306 FIRE AND ICE 2
Every old man I see In October-coloured weather Seems to say to me: ‘I was once your father.’
Rhyme n. Definition: The agreement in final sounds in words or phrases (e.g. face/place) Synonyms: poem, verse, jingle
Can you spell rhythm and rhyme? Practise writing them down and then check each other’s spelling.
