Poetry Kaleidoscope

Holorime

Holorime (or holorhyme) 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

Holorime in English

"In Ayrshire hill areas, a cruise, eh, lass?"

"Inertia, hilarious accrues, he'las!"

from Miles Kington's poem titled "A Lowlands Holiday Ends in Enjoyable Inactivity"

Holorime in French

In French poetry, rime richissime ("very rich rhyme") is a rhyme of more than three phonemes. Holorime is an extreme example of rime richissime.

Gall, amant de la Reine, alla (tour magnanime)

Gallamant 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.

A notable exponent of holorime in French was Alphonse Allais:

par les bois du djinn où s'entasse de l'effroi,

parle et bois du gin ou cent tasses de lait froid.

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."

External links

• Wordspy
• [1]

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