It's safe to say that since the olden days, i and ee sounds have traded places rather often.


...oh wind,
if winter comes,
can spring be
far behind?

(it seems that 'wind' had a long i in the 1800's.)
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... gave me her promise true,
which ne'er forgot shall be,
and for bonnie Annie Laurie
I would lay me down and die.

(it seems that 'die' was pronounced 'dee.')
-----------
to see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die
with thee again, in sweetest sympathy.

(either die is dee or sympathee is sympa-thigh)


I doubt whether anybody knows which way to go to fix these now-broken rhymes. One thing is for sure - it's a waste of energy to decide that an unfamiliar pronunciation is a mere affectation.