Rhyme and Rhythm

Tayeb A. Abdullah
 Rhyme
O Rhyme is using words which have similar sounds, usually at
the end of the lines of a poem.

O Rhymes are of two types according to position:

O End Rhyme: It is when two words rhyme at the end of

two lines of a poem:
O E.g.:
Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground
 Rhyme
O Middle/ internal Rhyme: It is where a poem rhymes
in the middle of a line, rather than at the end.

O E.g.:
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and
weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore
 Rhyme Scheme
O The system of rhyme in a poem is called rhyme scheme. Each rhyming sound is given a different
letter of the alphabet.

O E.g.:

The harlot’s cry from street to street a

Shall weave old England’s winding-sheet. a
The winner’s shout, the loser’s curse, b
Dance before dead England’s hearse. b
Every night and every morn c
Some to misery are born, c
Every morn and every night d
Some are born to sweet delight. d
Some are born to sweet delight, d
Some are born to endless night. d

The rhyme scheme of this poem is aabbccdddd.

 Rhythm
O Each word is composed of syllables. These syllables are either
stressed or unstressed depending on the word. For example, “tragedy”
consists of three syllables, with the stress on the first syllable: tragedy.

O Stressed syllables are marked with ˉ , and unstressed syllables are

marked with ˘.

O Rhythm is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. It

is the movement of sound in a line of poem.

O A poet uses certain kinds of rhythm, depending on the tone and the
subject he wants to write about.
 Meter and Foot
O When a certain kind of rhythm is repeated, it becomes
standardized, and is called meter. Meter is the regular
and repetitive pattern of stress in a poem.

O Each unit of meter is called a foot. A foot is a group

of syllables which make a meter.

O E.g.:
It ˉis the ˉeast, and ˉJuliet ˉis the ˉsun.
Aˉrise, fair ˉsun, and ˉkill the ˉenvious ˉmoon,
Types of Foot in Poetry
O Iambic: Unstressed, Stressed ˘ˉ

O Trochaic: Stressed, Unstressed ˉ˘

O Anapestic: Unstressed, Unstressed, Stressed ˘˘ˉ

O Dactylic: Stressed, Unstressed, Unstressed ˉ˘˘

 Iambic Foot ˘ ˉ
O E.g.:

I grant /indeed /that fields /and flocks /have charms

For him/ that graz/es or / for him /that farms
 Trochaic Foot ˉ ˘
O E.g.:

Though thy/ slumber / may be / deep

Yet thy /spirit / shall not /sleep
 Anapestic foot ˘ ˘ ˉ
O E.g.:

Oh, he flies /through the air/ with the grea/test of ease

The dar/ing young man/ on the fly/ing trapeze
 Dactylic Foot ˉ ˘ ˘
O E.g.:

Just for a /handful of/ silver he /left us

Just for a/ riband to/ stick in his/ coat
 Numbers of Foot
O Monometer: one foot
O Dimeter: two feet
O Trimeter: three feet
O Tetrameter: four feet
O Pentameter: five feet
O Hexameter: six feet
O Heptameter: seven feet
O Octameter: eight feet
 Scansion
O Scansion is the action of scanning a line of poetry by
determining the type of meter (rhythm) and foot of the line.

O Scansion is done by recognizing the stressed and unstressed

words in the line; then determining the type of foot in the line;
and finally counting the number of the foot in the line.

O In scansion the type of the foot is written then the number of the
foot.

O So, a line of poetry can be iambic pentameter, trochaic

tetrameter, anapestic tetrameter, or dactylic hexameter
Comments and Questions?