Onze Stam. Jaargang 1910

[p. 128]

Our Queer Language.

When the English tongue we speak,
Why is ‘break’ not rhymed with ‘freak’?
Will you tell me why 't is true
We say ‘sew’ but likewise ‘few’?
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 is ‘low’;
‘Shoe’ is never rhymed with ‘foe’;
Think of ‘hose’ and ‘dose’ and ‘lose’;
And of ‘goose’-and yet for ‘choose’,
Think of ‘comb’ and ‘tomb’ and ‘bomb’;
‘Doll’ and ‘roll’ and ‘home’ and ‘some’,
And since ‘pay’ rhymed with ‘say’
Why not ‘paid’ with ‘said’, I pray,
We have ‘blood’ and ‘food’ and ‘good’
‘Mould’ 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.

Home notes 28-18-2.
Edwin Sabin.