How to Use a Rhyming Dictionary to Improve Your Poetry

A rhyming dictionary is one of those archaic writing resource books that few people pay attention to today, but they still have the power to improve your writing especially when working on traditional formal poetry, here's how to work with one effectively.

A rhyming dictionary provides a peek into words that sound similar to a word with an easy to use format. It's mostly a database of words that are organized around a root sound with a look up facility to find the root. Modern on line dictionaries like Merriam-Webster also have a" words that rhyme" function, but it doesn't provide the same capabilities as the paper book.

Example of Using a Rhyming Dictionary

I picked word sew. Although sew looks like hew, they sound much different. The sound of sew rhymes with owe, though, toe. In looking in the rhyming dictionary, I find the root number for sew is 12. I find root 12 is"-oe" on page 15 through 21, although only pages 15 and 16 have strong rhymes, while the rest of the pages have roots 12.1-12.86.

Use a Rhyming Dictionary to Find the Root Sound

Pick a word, then look at the index of your rhyming dictionary. The rhyming dictionary will give you the number of the root. The root is identified by a number 1-500. One common mistake in using a rhyming dictionary is thinking of the number provided as a page number, this is incorrect. Once you have the root number, leaf through the pages to locate the number.

Use a Rhyming Dictionary to Produce a List of Thematically Related Words that Rhyme

I select music as my theme and find tango, mambo, oboe, rondeau, rondo, adagio, arpeggio and piano as mostly end rhymes for a poem. Some are dance terms, some imply rhythm. In writing about dancing, I might not think of all these words. How would it connect to sew? Maybe the poet is sewing to music, or maybe sewing a dance costume. The choices are many. One fun thing to try with these words is to write a rondeau, which is a type of poem. Other themes using words that rhyme with sew include plants i.e. eddo, places like Moscow, and actions like hoe and row.

Use a Rhyming Dictionary to Produce a List of Unusual Words that Rhyme

Using the same word sew, I find a po is a chamber pot, a drongo is a tropical bird, smoko which is an Australian tea break, and testudo which is a Roman military technique. Although you might not choose any of these words to rhyme with sew, although I can think of ways to connect them to sew, they might not all work together well. On the other hand, having found out about testudo, you might go in search of more information about Roman military techniques for your poem.

Use a Rhyming Dictionary to Create Interior Rhymes in Your Poetry

Poems with the same sound together i.e. "I sew a slow adagio like a peepshow of needle in cloth" don't necessarily announce this is a rhyming poem since it doesn't end with a rhyme. Used mid poem, the rhyme scheme can vary in many ways and enrich the sounds when you read.

Use a Rhyming Dictionary to Create Rhyming Sounds in Your Poetry

If for instance, the word "clunk" comes to mind when writing a poem, it has a sound that matches what happens. A rhyme like thunk also makes sounds and rhymes. In looking up clunk, I run into clink, clop and click in the index. These have the same start sound so using these words help to add to the tonal quality of the poem.

Rhyming dictionaries aren't expensive, they just happen to be rather esoteric these days. They make wonderful gifts for poet friends, for other suggestions read "Top Gifts for the Poet in Your Life."