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Poetry Guide: Eye Rhyme


Eye rhyme is a similarity in spelling between words that are pronounced differently and hence, not an auditory rhyme. Some examples are slaughter and laughter.

Many older English poems, particularly those written in Middle English or written in The Renaissance, contain rhymes that were originally true or full rhymes, but as read by modern readers they are now eye rhymes because of shifts in pronunciation. An example is prove and love.

Other eye rhymes: