Holorime
Encyclopedia
Holorime is a form of rhyme
in which the rhyme encompasses an entire line or phrase. A holorime may be a couplet
or short poem made up entirely of homophonous
verses.
, rime richissime ("very rich rhyme") is a rhyme of more than three phoneme
s. Holorime is an extreme example of rime richissime.
A notable exponent of holorime in French was Alphonse Allais
:
)
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
in which the rhyme encompasses an entire line or phrase. A holorime may be a couplet
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
or short poem made up entirely of homophonous
Homophone
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
verses.
Holorime in English
- "In Ayrshire hill areas, a cruise, eh, lass?"
- "Inertia, hilarious, accrues, hélas!"
-
- —Miles KingtonMiles KingtonMiles Beresford Kington was a British journalist, musician and broadcaster.-Early life :...
, "A Lowlands Holiday Ends in Enjoyable Inactivity".
- —Miles Kington
- "Poor old Dali loped with an amazin' raging cyst, as
- poor Roald Dahl eloped with Anna-May's enraging sisters."
-
- —the final line from an unpublished short story by translator Steven F. Smith about the attempts of Salvador Dali and Roald Dahl to woo a couple of American lasses.
Holorime in French
In French poetryFrench poetry
French poetry is a category of French literature. It may include Francophone poetry composed outside France and poetry written in other languages of France.-French prosody and poetics:...
, rime richissime ("very rich rhyme") is a rhyme of more than three phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s. Holorime is an extreme example of rime richissime.
- Gall, amant de la Reine, alla, tour magnanime!
- Galamment de l'Arène à la Tour Magne, à Nîmes.
- Gallus, the Queen's lover, went (a magnanimous gesture)
- Gallantly from the Arena to the Great Tower, at Nîmes.
-
- —Marc MonnierMarc MonnierMarc Monnier was a French writer.Monnier was born at Florence. His father was French, and his mother a Genevese; he received his early education in Naples, he then studied in Paris and Geneva, and he completed his education at Heidelberg and Berlin. He became professor of comparative literature at...
- —Marc Monnier
A notable exponent of holorime in French was Alphonse Allais
Alphonse Allais
Alphonse Allais was a French writer and humorist born in Honfleur, Calvados.He is the author of many collections of whimsical writings. A poet as much as a humorist, he in particular cultivated the verse form known as holorhyme, i.e. made up entirely of homophonous verses, where entire lines rhyme...
:
- Par le bois du djinn, où s'entasse de l'effroi, By the woods of the djinn, where fear abounds,
- Parle, bois du gin, ou cent tasses de lait froid. Talk, drink gin, or a hundred cups of cold milk.
Other examples
Holorime may also refer to two phrases that sound the same but have different meanings. Most such holorimes come from music lyrics, such as "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" and "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy." (See also MondegreenMondegreen
A mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song...
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