R is for Rock Cut

 

This rock cut is located on Highway 7 west of Ottawa, Ontario.

R is for rhyme and rhyme scheme

A rhyme is the repetition of the same or similar sounds, most often in the final syllables of the final words in lines of poetry or song. Rhyme is also a verb, used even to describe how someone made an unintentionally poetic statement.

Rhyme is a poetic device. One common type of poetry features rhyming couplets.

All the stream that’s roaring by

Came out of a needle’s eye;

Things unborn, things that are gone,

From needle’s eye still goad it on.

—  “A Needle’s Eye,” William Butler Yeats

 

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of the rhymes ending the lines of a poem or song. In English, different rhyme schemes have names, e.g., a limerick is AABBA.

Here is another example of rhyming couplets, using letters to mark the different rhymes.

He with body waged a fight,                                A

But body won; it walks upright.                         A

Then he struggled with the heart;                      B

Innocence and peace depart.                               B

Then he struggled with the mind;                      C

His proud heart he left behind.                           C

Now his wars on God begin;                                D

At stroke of midnight God shall win.                 D

— “The Four Ages of Man,” William Butler Yeats

 

Rhyming Mnemonic

Rhymes are also used as a mnemonic to aid memorization.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November;

All the rest have thirty-one,

Save February, with twenty-eight days clear,

And twenty-nine each leap year.

— Anonymous

 

R is for rhythm

Rhythm is the regular beat of sounds and silence in speech, prose, poetry, or music. It is as natural as walking and breathing; our hearts beat in a rhythm. In music, the upbeat and downbeat correspond to the metre in poetry, which is measured in feet, e.g. da DUM, which is an iamb.

Iambic pentameter is a common rhythm in poetry, consisting of five iambs per line.

And I do love thee: therefore, go with me;

I’ll give thee fairies to attend on thee,

And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep,

And sing while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep;

(Act 3, Scene 1)

—“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Shakespeare

Exercises

1. Do you have a favourite poem? What is its rhyme scheme and rhythm?
2. Do you know any mnemonics used as memory aids? Do they rhyme?

Special reading assignment

1. Rock cuts are a feature of Canadian landscape, especially in the north.
2. Rest assured, Rosemary has rated the recipe for roasted radishes.

G is for Glacial Erratic

This large boulder was dropped in place by an ancient glacier, which carried it from afar.

G is for genus

Living things are given a scientific name consisting of two names, a genus name and a species name (called a binomial), from Latin or Latinized Greek. These two names together are always placed in italics. Only the genus name is capitalized. Common names may be capitalized, or not.

Acer ginnala (Siberian maple)

Curcurbita pepo (gourd)

Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)

Gavia immer (Common Loon)

Grus canadensis (Sandhill Crane)

When you see a list of species, such as these maples, only the first mention of the genus name is written in full.

Acer rubrum, A. saccharum, A. spicatum

Exercises

1. Using a field guide or an online search, identify the trees and birds you see around you during the day. Write out their common names and binomials, accurately.

Special reading assignment

1. Glacial erratics are rocks, often large boulders with a rounded shape, carried and dropped in unusual places by a glacier.