Jayne, the point about the first two stanzas is that they could and should rhyme - it's just that the wrong, non-rhyming word has been used.
Here's how they should be:
I struggled with the verse so many times, (word order changed)
But somehow I could never find the rhymes;
I must admit there is no use pretending -
My lines all lacked a proper rhyming ending. (finish)
The words at their conclusion never matched
However hard my wretched head I scratched, (rubbed)
And quatrain after quatrain fell apart
Because I hadn’t mastered rhyming art. (skill)
So the inversion is an unfortunate necessity, otherwise the missing rhyme "scratched" would be in the wrong place. But I've got plenty of time to see if I can find a way to improve it ...
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