New Rhyming Dictionary and Poets' Handbook (Paperback)

~ Burges Johnson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A storehouse of rhymes and rhythms for poets--as handy a tool for a writer as a thesaurus.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Collins Reference (September 25, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062720147
• ISBN-13: 978-0062720146
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #126,355 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely useful... and fun, July 1, 2001

By	Justin Weaver (Goleta, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I do a lot of translation/versifying and this book is an incredible tool. Far from being a crutch, it opens the mind to new possibilites of rhyme, which, once internalized, can be called up from memory without looking back to the book. In short, this book TEACHES you versification skills through exposure to rhymes. It also contains an extensive discussion of rhyming form and technique with examples. A must have for the serious formalist.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Definitely One for the Proverbial Beginners, May 9, 2004

By	Sunnyside "Sunnyside" (Astoria, NY United States) - See all my reviews

It's useful enough for a beginner, but then again, so is a website like www.rhymezone.com, which this book feels a whole lot like...the entries are standard-fare; nothing extraordinary.

The ~$12 price is fair, and I'm afraid that's all which can be said about this title.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Good, But Sometimes Tedious To Flip Through, June 8, 2006

By	Venus A. Rachal - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Burges Johnson offers a basic rhyming manual for poets. The first 65 pages or so gives examples of various forms of meter and fixed styles of poetry. So if you wish to remember what trochaic hexameter looks like, you can find it here. The examples are of standard European lyric poems: Sonnet, Ballade, Chant Royal, Villanelle, Limerick, Rondel, Sestina, etc. There are no examples of Asian styles like Haiku.

The rhyming dictionary is organized by vowel sounds with the most basic sounds like ATE, IN, OW, EAR listed first and then more complex combinations listed toward the end. The listings contain simple words, so the rhymes will not have unique combinations. But it is still a great start if you find yourself stuck after the third ATE (pate, mate, gate...).

My main issue with the book is that it's a bit difficult to flip through. There are times where I will think a sound should be listed under OO and it's under EW. Also, because the simple sounds are seperated from the multi-syllable sounds, you'll have a break in the alphabetical listing. It requires a lot of flipping back and forth.

All in all, it's a handy reference which saves time.