Rhyme scheme facts for kids

A rhyme scheme is like a secret code that shows how lines in a poem or song rhyme with each other. Poets use it to create musical patterns. We use letters to mark which lines rhyme. For example, if a poem has an "ABAB" rhyme scheme, it means the first and third lines rhyme, and the second and fourth lines rhyme.

What is a Rhyme Scheme?

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming words at the end of lines in a poem or song. It helps give poems a musical feel. To show these patterns, people use letters. Each new sound gets a new letter.

For example, if the first line ends with a word that rhymes with the third line, they both get the letter "A". If the second line rhymes with the fourth line, they both get the letter "B".

Common Rhyme Patterns

Some rhyme schemes are very common. Here are a few basic ones:

• AA: Two lines in a row rhyme.
• AABB: The first two lines rhyme, and the next two lines rhyme.
• ABAB: The first and third lines rhyme, and the second and fourth lines rhyme.
• ABBA: The first and fourth lines rhyme, and the second and third lines rhyme.

Here is an example of an ABAB rhyme scheme from Robert Herrick's poem To Anthea, who may Command him Anything:

Bid me to weep, and I will weep (A)

While I have eyes to see; (B)

And having none, yet I will keep (A)

A heart to weep for thee. (B)

More Complex Schemes

Some poems use more complicated rhyme schemes. These often have special names:

• ABABBCC is called rhyme royal.
• ABABABCC is called ottava rima.
• ABABBBCBCC is called Spenserian stanza.

Sonnets are special poems with 14 lines. They can have many different rhyme schemes depending on their style:

• Italian Sonnets: ABBA ABBA CDC DCD, or ABBA ABBA CDE CDE.
• French Sonnets: ABBA ABBA CDCD EE.
• Spenserian Sonnets: ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.
• Shakespearean Sonnets: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Internal Rhymes

Sometimes, words rhyme inside the same line, not just at the end. This is called an internal rhyme. Poets also use alliteration, which is when words start with the same sound.

Here's an example from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Notice the internal rhymes and alliteration:

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

The furrow followed free;

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.

Different Choices for Poets

Some rhyme schemes are used all the time, while others are very rare. The AABBCC scheme is simple and easy to find. But a scheme like ABCCBA, used by Robert Browning in his poem Meeting at Night, was not very popular.

There are many ways to create a rhyme scheme. For example, a five-line stanza (a group of five lines) can have many different patterns. One simple pattern is AAAAA, where all five lines rhyme.

Sometimes, poets link rhymes by repeating the same vowel sound, even if the words are spelled differently. This is more common in some languages, like Italian.

Rhyme Schemes Over Time

A poet, a period of time, or a type of poetry might prefer a certain rhyme scheme.

• The Scottish poet Robert Burns often used the scheme AAABAB.
• Rhyme royal (ABABBCC) was popular in medieval English poetry.
• Ottava rima (ABABABCC) was often used for long, epic poems, especially in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.