The pattern made by placing words which end in similar sounds at the ends of lines. To mark out a rhyme scheme, letters, starting with a, are assigned to the first occurrence of a sound, such that line 1 is always a and the first occurrence of the next sound is always b and so on. For example, the pattern of the Shakespearean sonnet is three quatrains rhyming a b a b, c d c d, e f e f then a closing couplet rhyming g g. Viz:
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned,
Crooked e…
Please log in to
consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing
institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on
campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we
offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If
you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal
subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.
194 words
Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Rhyme Scheme". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2001 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=958, accessed 23 November 2024.]
