Instead of the inconstant element t, write successively, p, pl, pr, b, bl, br, &c.: so that you have the following list:—t-old, p-old, pl-old, pr-old, b-old, bl-old, br-old, &c.
Of these plold, blold, and brold, have no existence in the language; the rest, however, are rhymes.
[§ 677]. All words have the same number of possible, but not the same number of actual rhymes. Thus, silver is a word amenable to the same process as told—pilver, plilver, prilver, bilver, &c.; yet silver is a word without a corresponding rhyme. This is because the combinations which answer to it do not constitute words, or combinations of words in the English language.
This has been written, not for the sake of showing poets how to manufacture rhymes, but in order to prove that a result which apparently depends on the ingenuity of writers, is reducible to a very humble mechanical process, founded upon the nature of rhyme and the limits to the combinations of consonants.
PART VII.
THE DIALECTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
[§ 678]. The consideration of the dialects of the English language is best taken in hand after the historical investigation of the elements of the English population. For this, see Part I.
It is also best taken in hand after the analysis of the grammatical structure of the language. For this, see Part IV.