The Rhyme and the Rhyme Scheme of a poem

Rhyme refers to the repetition of matching sounds a the end of every consecutive line. The rhyme scheme is the particular pattern of rhyme in a poem
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The Rhyme of a poem

The-Rhyme-and-the-Rhyme-Scheme-of-a-Poem

What is rhyme in poetry?

Rhyme refers to the repetition of matching sounds a the end of every consecutive line.
Rhyme occurs when the endings of a line or words in a poem have similar sounds.
The vowels in the last syllable are what determines whether there is a rhyme or not and not
just the consonant sound alone at the end of the line. It should be noted that it is the
sounds that are repeated and not necessarily the spelling.

Questions on rhyme.

  • Describe the rhyme scheme of the poem.
  • Comment on the rhyme scheme of the poem.

A sample question on rhyme in poetry

Consider the following poem and comment on the rhyme and the rhyme scheme.

BREATH

Listen more to things

Than to words that are said

The water’s voice sings

And the flame cries

And the wind that brings

The words to sighs

And is the breathing of the dead.

In the above poem the words things sings and bring rhyme and so do the words cries and sighs

The importance of rhyme in poetry.

  1. Rhyme is used in poetry to create musicality.
  2. Rhyme makes the poem interesting to listen to.
  3. It also makes the idea expressed memorably.

Rhyme Scheme in Poetry

What is a Rhyme scheme?

The rhyme scheme in poetry refers to the particular pattern of rhyme in a poem.

Burry me in a free land

Make me a grave where you will,

In a lowly plain, or a lofty hill,

Make it among earth’s humblest graves,

But not in a land where men are slaves

I could not rest if around my grave,

I heard the steps of trembling slave:

His shadow above my silent tomb

Would make it a place of fearful gloom

I could not rest if I heard the tread

Of a coffle gang to the shambles led;

And the mother’s shriek of wild despair

Rise like a curse on the trembling air.

To get the rhyme scheme of a poem the matching sound at the end of each line is
assigned an alphabetical letter, and different SOUNDS are assigned different letters following
the alphabetical order.
This is actually what is done in the poem by considering the sound at the end of each
line of the poem.
…will, (a)
…hill’ (a)
…graves (b)
…slaves (b)
The 1st and the 2nd line of this poem have the same ending sound /l/ and thus are
assigned an alphabetical letter (a). The 3
assigned an alphabetical letter (a). The 3rd and the 4th line have /s/ as the ending
sound and is thus assigned the letter (b)
sound and is thus assigned the letter (b) this means that from anywhere else in the poem, wherever there is an /l/ and /s/ as an ending, sound we assign the letter (a) and (b) respectively.
The next sound that is different from those already found is assigned a different
letter following alphabetical order.
Thus the rhyme scheme of the above poem is got as follows.
…will, (a)
…hill’ (a)
…graves (b)
…slaves (b
…grave (c)
…slave (c)
…tomb (d)
…groom (d)
….tread (e)
…led (e)
…Despair (f)
…air (f)
To give this rhyme scheme to the question the assigned letters are written down as
follows
Aabbccddeeff
The rhyme scheme is regular since it follows a particular pattern.


BUSY

I’ ve got some dust in my eye,

A crocodile’s biting my leg,

A goat’s got into the garden,

There’s a porcupine in the cooking pot,

The corn is drying on the rock,

The chief has called me to court,

I have to go to my mother-in-law’s funeral

I’m busy !

What’s the rhyme scheme of the above poem?

…eye (a)
…leg (b)
…garden (c)
…pot (d)
… rock(e)
… court .(d)
… funeral (f)
…busy (g)
The rhyme scheme is thus abcdedfg.. The scheme is irregular since it does not follow a
specific pattern.

 A rhyme scheme of a poem is described as either REGULAR or IRREGULAR depending on the pattern in which the scheme follows:

Regular rhyme Scheme

REGULAR RHYME SCHEME is a scheme that follows a particular pattern and thus a
next pattern can be easily predicted.
 Example - aabbccddeeff…
- ababcdcdefef
- abcabcdefdef

Irregular Rhyme Scheme

IRREGULAR RHYME SCHEME is a scheme that does not follow any pattern, its pattern is
thus unpredictable.
Example abccbadbaae
aabcbadeffcb
- ababcdcdefef
- abcabcdefdef
IRREGULAR RHYME SCHEME is a scheme that does not follow any pattern, its pattern is
thus unpredictable.
Example abccbadbaae
aabcbadeffcb

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