Rhyme schemes are the specific patterns a poem
follows at the end of each line. Some rhyme schemes
follow a simple pattern like AA and BB.
For example:
The sky is very sunny. (A)
The children are funny. (A)
Under the tree we sit, (B)
But just for a bit. (B).
Types of Rhyme Scheme
Alternating rhyme schemes are one of the simplest
types. Also called interlocking rhymes, this rhyme
scheme is found in 4-line stanzas and includes the ABAB
pattern.
An example is “Neither Out Far Nor In Deep” by Robert
Frost.
The people along the sand (A)
All turn and look one way. (B)
They turn their back on the land. (A)
They look at the sea all day. (B)
Ballades get more complex when it comes to rhyme
schemes. In total, a ballade will have 28 lines including
three 8-line stanzas with the rhyming pattern
ABABBCBC. The end will include a 4-line envoi with the
rhyme scheme BCBC.
See this in action through Hilaire Belloc’s “Ballade of
Modest Confession”.
Painting on Vellum: not on silk or hide (A)
Or ordinary Canvas: I suppose (B)
No painter of the present day has tried (A)
So many mediums with success, or knows (B)
As well as I do how the subject grows (B)
Beneath the hands of genius, that anoint (C)
With balm. But I have something to disclose— (B)
Painting on Vellum is my weakest point. (C)
Prince! do not let your Nose, your royal Nose, (B)
Your large imperial Nose get out of Joint. (C)
For though you cannot touch my golden Prose, (B)
Painting on Vellum is my weakest point. (C)
Coupled rhyme can be a lot of fun because this type of
rhyme isn’t very intricate. Additionally, it’s seen a lot in
children’s poems. Coupled rhyme is a 2-line stanza
following the simple format AA, BB, CC, etc. Great poets
from Shakespeare to Chaucer used rhyming couples.
Looking for a fun example, look no further than Dr.
Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham.
I would not like them here or there. (A)
I would not like them anywhere. (A)
I do not like green eggs and ham. (B)
I do not like them, Sam-I-Am. (B)
Not as common as the coupled rhyme is the triplet
rhyme. As you can imagine by now, a triplet rhyme is a
3-line rhyming stanza.
See how this works through “Upon Julia’s Clothes” by
Robert Herrick.
When as in silks my Julia goes, (A)
Then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows (A)
That liquefaction of her clothes. (A)
When thinking of a monorhyme, it’s helpful to think
‘one’. This is because a monorhyme scheme only has
one ending rhyme throughout the entire poem. Imagine
how tricky it can get to think of new rhyme words.
Looking for a humorous rhyme scheme example, check
out a limerick. Humorous by design, limericks have 5
lines that follow an AABBA rhyme scheme. They also
have a set number of syllables to each line.
Explore the silly limerick example “A Young Lady of
Lynn”.
There was a young lady of Lynn, (A)
Who was so uncommonly thin (A)
That when she essayed (B)
To drink lemonade (B)
She slipped through the straw and fell in. (A)
Villanelle rhyme schemes like to mix it up. They include
not only five 3-line stanzas but a quatrain at the end
with an ABA rhyming pattern and repeating lines.
Check out Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, (A)
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. (B)
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster. (A)
—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture (A)
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident (B)
the art of losing's not too hard to master (A)
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster. (A)
After looking at the way this rhyme scheme is
structured (ABBA), the name ‘enclosed rhyme’ makes
sense. The couplet of the (BB) is sandwiched between
the As.
The first stanza of Matthew Arnold’s “Shakespeare”
pulls this off beautifully.
Others abide our question. Thou art free. (A)
We ask and ask—Thou smilest and art still, (B)
Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill, (B)
Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty, (A)