For me, rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses, along with etymological dictionaries and the OED and a desk dictionary, work as mnemonics and heuristics. They often help me remember the word that's tickling the edge of my consciousness, and other times they lead me to a word much better than the ones that were filling my head with their cackles and shrieks. It sometimes seems as if writing a poem is really a process of mining it from the dark tunnels and caverns of the language, as if all poetry is already there waiting to be unearthed, and my various reference books are little hints about where to dig.
I know that Frost, for one, took great pride in never using a rhyming dictionary. Of course, he was a much better poet than I am, and I'll take whatever help I can find. But I understand why some poets might be reluctant to use them. There does seem to be something vaguely inauthentic about browsing through a book of words piled up like cordwood.
Other poets? I'd like to hear others' experiences.
Richard
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