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Rhyme in "My Papa’s Waltz"
The poem is dominated by end rhyme,
but each of the first two stanzas contains one slant rhyme,
while the rhymes in the final two stanzas are all true.
This has the effect of bringing the poem into sharper
focus in the last two stanzas. The relative looseness
of the first two stanzas gives way to a tightness that
leaves us feeling tense and uneasy.
- lines 2 and 4 - "dizzy” and “easy"
These are slant rhymes—that is, inexact rhymes—rather
than the true rhymes that dominate the rest of the poem,
except for lines 5 and 7. The early stanzas of the poem
feel looser as a result.
- lines 5 and 7 - "pans”, “countenance"
Like lines 2 and 4, the last words of these lines constitute
the only slant rhymes in the poem. As above, the words
do rhyme, but in order to hear the rhyme, the ear has
to bend the sounds slightly.
- lines 14 and 16 - "shirt”, “dirt"
The second half of the poem is generally tougher, with
short, hard-sounding words and true end rhyme. There are
no slant rhymes here; the structure is less relaxed, which
leaves the reader feeling tense and uneasy.
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