Rhyme (Literary Terms Related to Poetry)

Rhyme

Rhyme involves the repetition of similar sounds in words, commonly found in poetry, particularly at line ends. The most frequent type is perfect rhyme, where stressed syllables and subsequent sounds are identical, such as "pencil" and "stencil." Perfect rhyme is so prevalent it is often synonymous with "rhyme." Other types include imperfect or slant rhymes, where sounds are similar but not identical.

Types of Rhymes:

Perfect Rhymes: Identical sounds in stressed syllables and following sounds (e.g., "compare" and "despair").

Imperfect Rhymes: Stressed syllable rhymes with an unstressed syllable (e.g., "uptown" and "frown").

Rhymes by Sound:

Assonance: Similar vowel sounds (e.g., "roof" and "tooth").

Consonance: Similar consonant sounds (e.g., "cut" and "mate").

Alliteration: Repetition of sounds at the beginning or stressed syllables (e.g., "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers").

Slant Rhyme: Similar final syllables (e.g., "poncho" and "crunchy").

Pararhyme: Perfect consonance (e.g., "leaves" and "loves").

Forced Rhyme: Near-rhyme with imperfect matches (e.g., "truth" and "endu'th").

Semi-rhyme: Identical sounds with an extra syllable in one word (e.g., "time" and "climbing").

Eye Rhymes: Words that look like they should rhyme but don’t (e.g., "rough" and "cough").

Identical Rhymes: Words that sound the same but look different (e.g., "two" and "too").

Monorhyme: Single rhyme used throughout a poem (e.g., AAAA).

Rhymes by Placement:

End Rhyme: Rhymes at the line ends (e.g., "Roses are red, violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, and so are you.").

Internal Rhymes: Rhymes within lines (e.g., "I drove myself to the lake / and dove into the water.").

Broken Rhymes: Word divided across lines to create a rhyme.

Cross Rhyme: End word rhymes with a word in the middle of another line.

Rhymes by Emphasis:

Single: Emphasis on the last syllable (e.g., "stop" and "mop").

Double: Emphasis on the penultimate syllable (e.g., "plunder" and "thunder").

Dactylic: Emphasis on the third-to-last syllable (e.g., "indicate" and "vindicate").

Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme:

In formal verse, end rhymes follow a pattern known as a rhyme scheme, indicated by letters of the alphabet. An ABAB rhyme scheme means the first and third lines rhyme, as do the second and fourth. Specific forms of poetry, like sonnets and villanelles, have set rhyme schemes that poets must adhere to.