Poetry, Rhyme and Scansion

Intended Learning Outcomes :

At the end of the lesson the students must be able to:

Define Poetry
Describe Rhyme in Poetry
Differentiate the different types of Meter.
Scan poetry

What is Rhyme Scheme?

Rhyme scheme (RHY SKEEm) is the ordered occurrence of rhymes at the
end of the lines of a poem or verse. While rhyme can also occur within lines
of poetry, the term rhyme scheme indicates the pattern of rhyme at the end
of the lines. In other words, a rhyme scheme is the blueprint for a poem’s
rhyming pattern.

The word rhyme was first used to indicate “agreement in terminal sounds” in
the 1560s. It derives from the Middle English ryme or rime (circa 1200),
which meant “measure, meter, rhythm” and later, “rhymed verse” (mid-13th
century.). Rhyme scheme first occurred as a literary term in 1931.

Types of Rhyme Scheme

While most contemporary poems tend to be written in unstructured free
verse, and Japanese poetry often relies on syllabic structure to create
auditory patterns, historically most Western poems were written according
to specific rhyme schemes that corresponded with the poems’ form.

When people discuss rhyme schemes, they use letters of the alphabet to
indicate the repeating patterns of the end rhymes. For example, if someone
were describing the rhyme scheme of a six-line poem with an alternating line
rhyme, they would write it out like this: ABABAB. This notation indicates that
lines one, three, and five rhyme with each other (A) and lines two, four, and
six share a rhyme (B) that is different from the A rhyme. Spaces added
between sets of letters (AABB CCDD, etc.) indicates that
different stanzas have a different rhyme scheme.

There are many rhyme schemes that exist, but these are some of the most
popular.
• Alternate rhyme: In poems with an alternate rhyme pattern, every
other line rhymes with each other. This is also called an ABAB rhyme
scheme.
• Ballade: A ballade is a type of poem. Its rhyme scheme consists of
three eight-line stanzas (octets) with an ABABBCBC pattern followed by a
BCBC quatrain (the envoi).
• Chain rhyme: Here, the rhyme patterns link stanzas by carrying one
end rhyme from a previous stanza over to the next and then introducing a
new end rhyme in that same stanza. For example, the pattern ABA BCB CDC
is a chain rhyme. The linked nature of the rhymes is reminiscent of a chain,
thus the pattern’s name.
• Couplet or coupled rhyme: A poem written in couplet rhyme has pairs
of rhyming lines, each pair with its own rhyme scheme. For example: AA BB
CC and so on.
• Enclosed rhyme: This four-line pattern gets its name because the first
and fourth lines rhyme, enclosing the rhyming second and third lines.
Enclosed rhymes are indicated by ABBA.
• Keatsian ode: This rhyme scheme—written as ABABCDECDE—was
primarily used by John Keats in his odes.
• Limerick: A poetic form, limericks consist of five lines with the rhyme
scheme of AABBA.
• Monorhyme: Poems written in monorhyme use a single rhyme
throughout. For example, a monorhyme quatrain—a four-line stanza—would
be AAAA. This form was particularly prevalent in classical Latin and Arabic
poetry.
• Ottava rima: With this rhyme scheme, poems follow an ABABABCC
pattern.
• Rhyme royal: Introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer, poems written in
rhyme royal generally utilize iambic pentameter in concordance with a rhyme
scheme of ABABBCC.
• Rondeau: A form of French verse similar to the ballade, rondeaus
have an ABaAabAB rhyme scheme. The capital letters indicate lines that are
repeated verbatim as refrains, while the lowercase letters indicate new
words that still follow the rhyming pattern.
• Rubaiyat: This is a form of classical Persian poetry that utilizes an
AABA rhyme scheme.
• Terza rima: Rather than an entire poetic form, a terza rima is a three-
line rhyming stanza. They follow a pattern of end rhymes that mirrors this
structure: ABA BCB CDC DED EFE etc. They are reminiscent of chain rhymes,
except the terza rima specifically has three lines per stanza, while chain
rhymes can have more.
• Triplet: Related to a monorhyme, a triplet is a three-line stanza (tercet)
with shared end lines, such as AAA, BBB, CCC, etc.
• Scottish stanza: This six-line pattern gains its name from Scottish
poet Robert Burns, who used its AAABAB rhyme scheme in many of his
works.
• Simple rhyme or simple four-line rhyme: Poems written in this
pattern have a basic rhyme scheme of ABCB used in quatrains (four-line)
stanzas or poems.
• Sonnets: These poems are 14 lines long and follow required metrical
patterns as well as rhyming patterns. There are three main types of sonnets,
each with its own corresponding rhyme scheme: the Petrarchan sonnet
(ABBA ABBA CDE CDE or ABBA ABBA CDC DCD), the Shakespearean sonnet
(ABAB CDCD EFEF GG), and the Spenserian sonnet (ABAB BCBC CDCD EE).

Rhyme Schemes and Fixed Verse

All verse poetry is written either in free verse or fixed verse.

Free verse does not adhere to any set criteria for meter, rhyme, pattern,
syllabic count, or any other set form. The poet is “free” to make any choice
they wish as they compose the poem, rather than following a template of set
patterns.

Fixed verse indicates that a poetic work was composed using specific rules
or set forms. There are many different templates that fixed verse can follow,
including patterns of meter, refrain, syllabic count, stanza length or count, or
the repetition of certain words or phrases. Fixed verse can also refer to other
specific form requirements, as in the sestina, ode, sonnet, or villanelle.

The set formulas of rhyme schemes are frequently a component of fixed

verse, although they are not required. A poem can be a fixed verse poem
without utilizing a rhyme scheme; however, any poem that follows a rhyme
scheme is automatically considered fixed verse.

Rhyme Schemes and Blank Verse

The term formal poetry often refers to poetry that follows a set meter and
rhyme scheme. Poetry that retains a precise meter, such as iambic
pentameter, but does not utilize rhyme is called blank verse. Blank verse was
frequently used in Elizabethan drama, such as plays by William Shakespeare
and Christopher Marlowe, as well as in the epic poem Paradise Lost by John
Milton.

There are some advantages to writing in blank verse. It allows poets to

access rhythm through syllabic patterns of stressed and unstressed sounds.
Poets are also able to use a wider range of vocabulary because they aren’t
restricted to words that fit within the rhyme scheme.

Literary works that adhere to rhyme schemes in addition to meter, however,

have a stronger melodic pattern because the rhythm of meter is
complemented by the addition of predictable patterns of rhyme. Rhyme
schemes also serve as a strong mnemonic device, helping actors better
memorize their lines for verse plays and allowing readers a greater level of
sonic engagement with poems on the page.
Why Writers Use Rhyme Schemes
The repeating sonic patterns of rhyme bring musicality and rhythm to poems
that rhyme, differentiating them from prose and free verse. Rhyme adds a
lulling calming effect to poems as it allows readers to anticipate subsequent
sonic repetitions and immerse themselves in that pattern.

Rhyme is also a useful mnemonic device as the repetition of each similar

sound creates a framework for easy memorization. Rhyme schemes give
order and predictable patterns to rhymes, allowing them to flow in a
harmonious and pleasing pattern.

Rhyme Scheme in Songs

Rhyme schemes are important elements of music. Songwriters utilize rhyme

schemes for the same reasons as poets: adding a pleasant melodious
quality that also serves as a mnemonic device for the audience.

The most common rhyme schemes in songs tend to be monorhymes, simple

rhymes, and coupled verses. Songwriters often elect to use rhyme schemes
where only some lines in each verse contain end rhymes, while other do not
rhyme at all. Examples of these rhyme schemes include XAXA (X indicates
an end word that does not rhyme), AXAA, AAXA, and AAAX. Hip hop and rap
tends to use coupled rhyme schemes as well as internal rhyme.

Examples of Rhyme Scheme in Literature

1. Sir Thomas Wyatt, “They Flee From Me”

Wyatt’s famous poem—long rumored to be about his affair with then-queen

Anne Boleyn—is written in rhyme royal. The first stanza perfectly illustrates
this form’s constraints:

They flee from me that sometime did me seek

With naked foot, stalking in my chamber.

I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek,

That now are wild and do not remember

That sometime they put themself in danger

To take bread at my hand; and now they range,

Busily seeking with a continual change.

This stanza follows the required ABABBCC rhyme scheme of rhyme royal,
and it adheres to the additional formal requirement of being a septet (seven-
line stanza) written in 10-syllable lines.

2. Major Jackson, “Aubade”

Jackson’s charming poem follows an alternate rhyme scheme throughout its
eight quatrains, which he establishes in the first stanza:

You could be home boiling a pot

of tea as you sit on your terrace,

reading up on last night’s soccer shot

beneath a scarf of cirrus.

Jackson’s ABAB rhyme of pot with shot and terrace with cirrus carry on
throughout the poem as he rhymes additional lines according to an alternate
rhyme scheme of CDCD, EFEF, etc.

3. Chelsea Rathburn, “Postpartum: Lullaby”

Rathburn’s poem follows a coupled rhyme scheme of AA, BB, CC, etc., as her
first three stanzas illustrate:

When two-thirty midnight ten

When the baby cries again

When at her breast a parasite

When she is up and down all night

A voice like a wound in her head in her ear

A rational wound calm and clear

Rathburn’s use of this simple rhyme scheme follows the lulling pattern of a
lullaby. This also allows the disturbing scene within the poem to take on
even more power as the postpartum depression she describes stands in
sharp relief to the comforting and predictable sonic pattern of this rhyme
scheme.

Meter Definition
Meter (mee-ter) is the systematic arrangement of language in a series of
rhythmic movements involving stressed and unstressed syllables. It is a
poetic measure related to the length and rhythm of the poetic line.

The word is derived from the Old French metre, which referenced the
specific use of “metrical scheme in verse.” However, it originated from the
Latin word metrum, from the Greek metron, meaning “meter, a verse; that by
which anything is measured; measure, length, size, limit, proportion.” The
use of the literary term meter is dated to the 14th century, where it connotes
“versification.”
 The Components of Meter
While a poem can be structured in different ways, meter is one of the most
fundamental. It is the rhythmic pattern of a line within formal verse
and blank verse poetry. The two basic components of meter are the number
of syllables in a line and the pattern of emphasis (stressed or unstressed)
that these syllables are arranged in.

Stressed syllables are emphasized, while unstressed syllables are not. For
example, with the word atom, the first syllable is emphasized, and the
second syllable is not. When spoken, the word makes a sound like “DUM-da.”
This is different from a word like display, where the second syllable is
stressed, and the pattern of emphasis sounds more like “da-DUM.”

Metrical Feet

When people discuss metrical patterns in verse, they often refer to

feet. Feet are individual units within the larger line. Each metrical foot
contains a specific number of syllables arranged in a particular pattern of
emphasis. Meter is determined by how many times a specific foot is used
within the line.

Common Types of Metrical Feet

• Iambs are made up of two syllables in a pattern of an unstressed

syllable followed by a stressed syllable: the words amuse, portray, and return.
• Trochees are made up of two syllables in a pattern of a stressed
syllable followed by an unstressed syllable: the words happy, clever,
and planet.
• Spondees are made up of two stressed syllables: the
words heartbreak, shortcake, and bathrobe.
• Dactyls are made up of three syllables in a pattern of one stressed
syllable followed by two unstressed syllables: the words merrily, buffalo,
and scorpion.
• Anapests are made up of three syllables in a pattern of two
unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable: the
words understand, interrupt, and the word anapest
Describing Lines of Verse with Meter

To name the meter of a verse, one generally combines the name of the
metrical foot and the number of stress patterns per line, named based on
Greek numerals (mono– for one, di– for two, tri– for three, and so on). For
example, a line of five iambs would be called iambic pentameter, while a line
made up of six dactyls would be called dactylic hexameter.

Monometer
Lines in monometer are comprised of a single metrical foot. Monometer is
rarely used, but Robert Herrick’s poem “Upon His Departure Hence” is an
example that uses iambic monometer: “Thus I / Pass by / And die.”

Dimeter

Lines in dimeter contain two metrical feet. Muriel Rukeyser uses iambic
dimeter throughout her poem “Yes”:

What can it mean?

It’s just like life,

One thing to you

One to your wife.

Trimeter

Lines in trimeter are composed of three metrical feet. In addition to verse,

many advertising slogans are written in trimeter. For example, the United
States Army’s slogan, “Be all that you can be” is written in iambic trimeter.

Tetrameter

Lines in tetrameter consist of four metrical feet. Shakespeare sometimes

wrote in trochaic tetrameter, like in this excerpt from

“The Phoenix and the Turtle”:

Reason, in itself confounded,

Saw division grow together,

To themselves yet either neither,

Simple were so well compounded

Pentameter

Lines in pentameter contain five metrical feet. Iambic pentameter is perhaps

the most familiar meter in English verse; it was used by William Shakespeare,
John Donne, and Geoffrey Chaucer. The famous opening to Geoffrey
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is written in iambic pentameter:
“Whan that aprill with his shoures soote /
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote.” (Don’t forget that Chaucer
wrote in Middle English, so the pronunciation—as well as spelling—of some
words varied from what we are used to today.)

Hexameter
Lines in hexameter consist of six feet. This was the primary meter used in
classical Greek and Latin literature, including Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey,
Virgil’s Aeneid, Horace’s Satires, and Ovid’s Metamorphosis.

In English literature, a line in iambic hexameter is also called an alexandrine.

Each stanza in Thomas Hardy’s poem “The Convergence of the Twain” ends
with an alexandrine: “Cold currents third, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres” in
Stanza II, “Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind” in
Stanza IV, and “A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate” in Stanza VII.

Types of Meter
While there are many different types of meter, the following are some of the
most common.

Accentual Meter

Accentual meter has a set count of stresses per line regardless of how many
syllables are present. This is most common in children’s poetry,
nursery rhymes, and the chants that accompany many jump rope games.
Consider the children’s rhyme “Star Light, Star Bright”:

Star light, Star bright /

First star I see tonight /

I wish I may, I wish I might /

Have the wish I wish to night

Each line contains four stresses, but the total syllabic count varies. Line one
has four syllables, line two has six, line three has eight, and line four has
seven. Despite the shifting syllabic count, the meter remains strong with four
beats per line.

Syllabic Meter

This is a metrical pattern determined by a set count of syllables, rather than

the amount of stresses. The Japanese haiku is an example of syllabic meter.
It consists of a tercet (three-line poem) with the first line containing five
syllables, the second line containing seven syllables, and the final line
returning to the five-syllable count. Where the stress falls is irrelevant to the
form since the form itself is determined by the number of syllables in the
line.

This haiku by Japanese poet Matsuo Basho is an example of syllabic meter:

An old silent pond…

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

Accentual-Syllabic Meter

In accentual-syllabic meter, both the number of syllables and the number of

stresses are consistent. Up until the advent of free verse, this was the most
common meter used in English verse. Consider these lines from Alfred Lord
Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade”:

Can non to right of them

Can non to left of them

Can non in front of them

Tennyson composed these lines using dactylic dimeter. Each line has six
syllables, and the syllables follow the pattern of stressed-unstressed-
unstressed twice per line.

Falling Meter

This type of meter is written in trochees and dactyls, which have a stressed
syllable followed by one or two unstressed syllables. Therefore, the meter
“falls” from stressed to unstressed. The children’s rhyme
“Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater” is an example of falling meter.

Rising meter

This type utilizes iambs and anapests, which begin with one or two
unstressed syllables and end with a stressed syllable. Thus, the meter “rises”
from unstressed to stressed emphasis. For example, consider the following
lines from William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 29”:
“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes /
I all alone beweep my outcast state.”

Common meter

Verse in common meter consists of four lines that alternate between iambic
tetrameter (four iambs per line) and iambic trimester (three iambs per line).
Common meter is used not only in poetry but also in pop songs like
“Stairway to Heaven,” TV show theme songs like the “Gilligan’s Island”
theme, folk songs like “The House of the Rising Sun,” and hymns like
“Amazing Grace.”

Why Writers Use Meter

Meter adds rhythm and order to writers’ work, giving verse a pleasant
melodious sound. It also unconsciously engages readers as they begin to
anticipate the metrical pattern and read in rhythm, thus lending a hypnotic
effect to the verse.
 Meter also determines what type of verse is being written: formal, blank, or
free. Depending on the type of verse, the writer’s choice of metrical pattern
may be further regulated by the rules of a specific type of poetic form.

Meter in Verse

Many poems and plays written in verse adhere to certain set metric patterns.
While meter is often paired with rhyme, it does not need to be. There are
three different categories that verse can be placed in when thinking about
meter:

• Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain any set meter
or rhyme scheme.
• Formal verse has a strict meter and rhyme scheme; for
example, sonnets or haiku.
• Blank verse does not have a rhyme scheme but does adhere to a
strict meter.
Poetry and plays written in verse can maintain the same meter throughout or
change meter in different sections. When analyzing meter, focus on meter
within the work as a whole or within a stanza or line. The study of
versification, especially the study of metrical structure, is called prosody.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Meter

Poetry in English is based on qualitative meter, which refers to patterns of
stressed and unstressed syllables occurring at regularly determined
intervals within the poetic line. In classical Greek, classical Latin, classical
Arabic, and Sanskrit poetry, however, meter was not dictated by syllabic
stress. Instead, it was determined by syllabic weight. Syllabic weight
indicates the length of the syllable in terms of pronunciation. For example, a
long syllable literally takes longer to pronounce than a short syllable. This
type of meter is called quantitative meter. In quantitative meter, the stress
patterns of words have no effect on the meter whatsoever. It is rare to
encounter quantitative meter in poetry written in English.

Examples of Meter in Literature

1. William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

In this romantic comedy, Shakespeare’s noble characters speak in iambic

pentameter to differentiate them from the plainer and less melodious
speech of the working class. For example, in Act 1, Scene 1, Theseus says:

Now, fair Hip po ly ta , our nup tial hour

Draws on a pace . Four hap py days bring in

A no ther moon. But oh , me thinks how slow

This old moon wanes! She lin gers my de sires ,

 Like to a step dame or a dow a ger

Long with ering out a young man’s re ve nue.

2. Edgar Allan Poe, “Annabel Lee”

Gothic writer Poe creates a lovely haunting melody by utilizing rising meter
created with iambs and anapests. He begins his poem with the lines:

It was man y and man y a year a go

In a king dom by the sea ,

That a mai den lived there whom you may know

The first line contains three anapests and an iamb, which makes it an
anapestic tetrameter. The second line is an iambic trimeter because it opens
with an anapest but concludes with two iambic feet. The third line is another
tetrameter, but here it is equally comprised of anapests and iambs, making it
a split line.

3. Emily Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death (479)”

Dickinson composed her poems primarily in common meter, similar to

hymns and ballads of her day. Here she alternates between iambic
tetrameter and iambic trimeter. In the first stanza of this famous poem,
Dickinson writes:

Be cause I could not stop for Death—

He kind ly stopped for me —

The Car riage held but just Our selves —

And Im mor tal i ty.

Dickinson’s use of these metrical patterns lends a lovely musical quality to
her poems.

4. Marilyn Nelson, “Chosen”

Although most contemporary poets write in free verse, others still work
within traditional frameworks of meter. In this sonnet, Nelson describes the
relationship between her enslaved great-great grandmother Diverne and
Diverne’s white master. The poem opens:

Di verne wan ted to die that Aug ust night.

His face hung o ver hers , a sweat ing moon.

She wished so hard she killed part of her

heart.
The formal and musical qualities lent to the poem by Nelson’s use of iambic
pentameter stand in contrast to the distressing scene portrayed. This
tension between form and content adds additional depth and power to
Nelson’s work.

References:

Wikipedia

https://www.supersummary.com/rhyme