Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Are rhymes bad in prose?

Are rhymes bad in prose? Sometimes yes, it depends on the prose and the rhyme and how it's used. Poetic devices like rhyming and alliteration can be used in prose but it's not at all easy to do w...

posted 7y ago by Neil‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:06:06Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26681
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T06:06:06Z (over 4 years ago)
Are rhymes bad in prose? Sometimes yes, it depends on the prose and the rhyme and how it's used.

Poetic devices like rhyming and alliteration _can_ be used in prose but it's not at all easy to do well. The rhymes here, "together" and "forever" are noticeable, and I think they do the piece a disservice. I'd simply remove the last two words.

I disagree with [Mark's answer](https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26670/26): Rhyme exists whether or not there's rhythm. It's just not nearly as noticeable in prose, and readers are seeing it out of context. (It's also worth noting that poetry doesn't have to rhyme.)

You've written a potentially powerful paragraph, but then end it with "We will be together. / Wholly. Forever." All of a sudden we're getting into something that reads to me like something you'd put on a greeting card or that a high school kid would write in an awkward love poem.

I'd just stick with words that move the story forward. The imagery here is powerful, there's no need to bookmark it with a rhyme.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-02-11T19:51:02Z (about 7 years ago)
Original score: 5