# Hyphenated rhymes in song and verse **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenated-rhymes-in-song-and-verse/449830 "2008-05-19T12:42:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenated-rhymes-in-song-and-verse/449830/1 "2008-05-19T12:42:38Z")
According to Steven Sondheim, > [@](#): > > To find a rhyme for silver, > A seemingly rhymeless rhyme, > Requires only will, ver- > bosity and time. Does anyone know of any other examples of poets and lyricists getting around difficult rhymes through hyphenation (i.e., rhyming in the middle of a word rather than at the end of it)? The only one that springs to mind is a popular song (in German) by Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung, one verse of which goes: > [@](#): > > _Und seine Frau, die Resi, > die nix versteht vom Cäsi- > um und vom Plutonium, > die haut’s vor Glück > mitsamt dem Toni um._ A rough translation: > [@](#): > > And his wife, Resi, > who understands nothing about Cesi- > um or Plutonium, > was happily impressed about it > together with Tony. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenated-rhymes-in-song-and-verse/449830/2 "2008-05-19T13:29:22Z")
Tom Lehrer, of course: "As the judge remarked the day that he acquitted my Aunt Hortense, “To be smut It must be ut- Terly without redeeming social importance.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenated-rhymes-in-song-and-verse/449830/3 "2008-05-19T13:37:01Z")
It’s the right month to site Camelot’s [The Lusty Month of May](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/c/camelotlyrics/lustymonthofmaylyrics.html) The time for ev’ry frivolous whim, Proper or “im” When all the world is brimming with fun Wholesome or “un” Alan Acykborne’s “Half a Moment” Even though Half a mo- Ment is too few. I shall save it till I have another Making one whole moment filled with you. Gerald Alessandrini’s wonderful Les Miserables parody “Do You Hear The People Sing?” Come join with few Who have started a mu- Sical war. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenated-rhymes-in-song-and-verse/449830/4 "2008-05-19T14:11:59Z")
How about Arlo Guthrie’s [The Motorcycle Song](http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/motorcycle-arlo.shtml)? - And I don’t want to die Just want to ride on my motorcy…cle \* ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenated-rhymes-in-song-and-verse/449830/5 "2008-05-19T14:14:07Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Tom Lehrer, of course: [/QUOTE] When you attend a funeral It’s sad to think that soonerl- -ater those you love will do the same for you. And you may have thought it tragic Not to mention other adjec- -tives, to think of all the weeping they will do. I’m sure there a lots more but that’s the only one (two) that comes to mind right now. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenated-rhymes-in-song-and-verse/449830/6 "2008-05-19T15:15:30Z")
A well-known example is Christian Morgenstern’s [Das ästhetische Wiesel](http://www.christian-morgenstern.de/dcma/index.php?title=Das_%C3%A4sthetische_Wiesel) (the English and Spanisch translations on the page also have the hyphenated rhyme) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenated-rhymes-in-song-and-verse/449830/7 "2008-05-19T15:49:25Z")
As I learned in my [recent similar thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=464706) this is called “broken rhyme.” A number of songs from the musical “Wicked” use it. For instance, from “Popular”: > [@](#): > > Don’t be offendeded by my frank analysis > Think of it as personality dialysis > Now that I’ve chosen to become a pal, a sis- > ter and advisor, there’s nobody wiser