Well, the post read to me like 'when are identity rhymes acceptable in lieu of a perfect rhyme, masculine or feminine?" -- it's all part of the larger question of how strict you need to be about rhyming (which is part of the big question of "why do I need to follow any stinking rules when I'm so brilliant?" that we hear from new songwriters so often).

I have zero problem ever with identity rhymes when the rhymes are perfect and the stresses are correct and natural. A rhyme like KNOW YOU/SHOW YOU is as good to me as a perfect rhyme (that is, I'd use it in a context when a perfect rhyme was called for, and wouldn't feel like I was cheating).

Some of the examples, though, like MY home/FLY home, don't work for me. When I say "my home" I always emphasize HOME, not MY (unless I were telling somebody that it wasn't their home it was mine). So the stresses would feel strained.

I would avoid using "deceive/receive" for the same reason. You're really rhyming "ceive" with "ceive," you don't say "DE-ceieve".

I tend to be more strict with myself about rhyming than I need to be, because of my self-education in musicals, I always strive for the perfect rhyme. But I've never had any problem with identify rhymes, the way you've described them, and I'm surprised to hear there's a prejudice in some circles against them.

Sondheim never had a problem with it. One of his most emotionally beguiling lyrics from Passion (which I won't quote in entirety) starts off with them. The first line of each verse rhyme2, starting off as follows:

v1: I wish I could forget you
v2: I know that I've upset you
v3: I never should have let you

Nope, not an issue for me...


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