The Strangeness of English
When the English tongue we speak,
Why is “break” not rhymed with “freak”?
And the maker of a verse,
Cannot cap his “horse” with “worse?”
“Beard” sounds not the same as “heard.”
“Cord” is different from “word.”
-“Cow” is cow but “low” is low.
“Shoe” is never rhymed with “foe.”
Think of “hose” and “dose” and “lose,”
And of “goose’ and yet of “choose.”
Think of “comb” and “tomb” and “bomb,”
“Doll” and “roll” and “home” and “some.”
And since “pay” is rhymed with “say,”
~Why not “paid” and “said,” I pray?
We have “blood” and “food” and “good.”
“Mould” is not pronounced like “could.”
Wherefore “done,” but “gone” and “lone”?
Is there any reason known?
And, in short, it seems to me
Sounds and letters disagree.
“ What about “cough” and “through” and “tougher”
Which don’t sound anything like each other.
“Thorough” can be made to rhyme with “dough,”
But “bough” sounds like “cow” and not like “though”
“Draught” is spelled a lot like “taught,”
But only one of them sounds like “bought”
We haven’t mentioned “laughter” or “daughter,”
Neither of which is spelled like it oughter.
Everyone says that “might” makes “right”
So how come “eight” doesn’t rhyme with “sleight”?
“Trough” can rhyme with “off” or “moth”
And on that note, I’ll end this froth.”