THE ENGLISH MOTHER TONGUE

With the English tongue we speak 1

Why is break 2 not rhymed with freak 3?
Won't you tell me why it's true
We say sew 4, but also few 5?
And the maker of a verse
Cannot rhyme his horse 6 with worse 7?
Beard 8 is not the same as heard 9,
Cord 10 is different from word 11,
Cow 12 is cow, low 13 is low,
Shoe 14 is never rhymed with foe 15.
Think of hose 16 and dose 17 and lose 18,
And think of goose 19 and yet of choose 20,
Think of comb 21 and tomb 22 and bomb 23,
Doll 24 and roll 25 and home 26 and some 27.
And since pay 28 is rhymed with say 29,
Why not paid 30 with said 31 I pray?
Think of blood 32 and food 33 and good 34;
Mould 35 is not pronounced like could 36.
Why is it done 37, but gone 38 and lone 39 -
Is there any reason known?
To sum it up, it seems to me
That sounds and letters don't agree – the entire line
40.