Rose suggested a better rhyme for the old carol:
-
Oh, the holly bears a berry as green as the grass
And Mary fled to Egypt on the back of an ass!
It works better if you pronounce ‘grass’ the way she does, rather than the way I do!
Ass-onance
December 30th, 2020
And Mary fled to Egypt on the back of an ass!
RSS feed
When it comes to writing, I’m allowed to be pedantic. (The right to pedantry has to be earned and, believe me, I earn it: I’m presently editing a paper on the philosophy of mathematics.)
I love Rose’s ass-onance but struggle with her metre. (Or, as Rose would spell it, meter.)
May I augment her couplet?
Oh, the holly bears a berry as green as any grass
And Mary fled to Egypt sat upon a sweaty ass!
Ha ha! Yes, that works well, but only if you put ‘any’ in the first line, which isn’t how it’s usually sung, I believe?
The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good