Rhyme, Schemes, and more...

POETIC FORM● FORM - the appearance of

the words on the page

● LINE - a group of words together on one line of the poem

● STANZA - a group of lines arranged together

RHYMESWords sound alike because they share the

same ending vowel and consonant sounds. A word always rhymes with itself.

● LAMP● STAMP

● Share the short “a” vowel sound● Share the combined “mp” consonant sound

RHYME SCHEME● a pattern of rhyming words or sounds (usually end

rhyme, but not always).

● Use the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds to be able to visually “see” the pattern.

SAMPLE RHYME SCHEME● A mighty creature is the germ,

● Though smaller than the pachyderm.● His customary dwelling place● Is deep within the human race.

● His childish pride he often pleases● By giving people strange diseases.● Do you, my poppet, feel infirm?● You probably contain a germ.

● -“The Germ” by Ogden Nash

A

A

B

B

C

C

A

A

Do these lines of poetry rhyme?

Twinkle, Twinkle, little starHow I wonder what you are?

Which words make them rhyme?

Twinkle, Twinkle, little starHow I wonder what you are?

Which words make them rhyme?

Twinkle, Twinkle, little starHow I wonder what you are?

Do these lines of poetry rhyme?

I must follow in their trainDown the crooked fairy lane

Which words make them rhyme?

I must follow in their trainDown the crooked fairy lane

Which words make them rhyme?

I must follow in their trainDown the crooked fairy lane

When two lines of poetry rhyme, it’s called a

COUPLET

Example of a Couplet Poem

Way down South where bananas grow,A grasshopper stepped on an elephant’s toeThe elephant said, with tears in his eyes,“Pick on somebody your own size!”

There are different kinds of rhymes…

Lines in a poem do not always rhyme at the end of the line...

END RHYME● A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another

line

● Hector the Collector● Collected bits of string.

● Collected dolls with broken heads● And rusty bells that would not ring.

● -”Hector the Collector” by Shel Silverstein

A

B

C

B

INTERNAL RHYME● A word inside a line rhymes with another

word on the same line.

● Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December

- “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

NEAR RHYME● Also known as imperfect or “close enough”

rhyme. The words share EITHER the same vowel or consonant sound BUT NOT BOTH

● ROSE● LOSE

● Different vowel sounds (long “o” and “oo” sound)● Share the same consonant sound (“s”)

ASSONANCE● Repeated VOWEL sounds in a line (or lines) of a poem● Often creates Near Rhyme

● A leal sailor even● In a stormy sea

● Drinks deep God’s Name● In ecstasy

● -”Peaceful Assonance” by Sri Chinmoy

ASSONANCE cont.

Slow the low gradual moan came in the snowing.

- From “Dauber: a poem” by John Masefield

Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep.- From Othello by William Shakespeare

CONSONANCE● Similar to alliteration EXCEPT:

– repeated consonant sounds can be anywhere in the words, not just at the beginning!

And frightful a nightfall folded rueful a day …How a lush-kept plush-capped sloe

Will, mouthed to flesh-burst, Gush!—

- From “The Wreck of the Deutschland” by Gerald Manley Hopkins

When an author sets up a poem so that certain lines rhyme with each other, it is

called a

RHYME SCHEME

Figuring out the Rhyme Scheme of a poem helps us understand the poem’s meaning better.

We can use letters to mark the Rhyme Scheme, like this:

Twinkle, Twinkle, little star AHow I wonder what you are? A

Up above the world so bright BLike a diamond in the night B

Twinkle, Twinkle, little star AHow I wonder what you are? A

Up above the world so bright BLike a diamond in the night B

This poem is a Couplet poem.

The Rhyme Scheme of a Couplet poem is AABB.

What is the Rhyme Scheme for this poem?Way down South where bananas grow, A grasshopper stepped on an elephant’s toe The elephant said, with tears in his eyes, “Pick on somebody your own size”

What is the Rhyme Scheme for this poem?Way down South where bananas grow, AA grasshopper stepped on an elephant’s toe AThe elephant said, with tears in his eyes, B“Pick on somebody your own size!” B

AABB

What about the Rhyme Scheme for a Quatrain?

I toss the branches up and downAnd shake them to and fro,I whirl the leaves in flocks of brownAnd send them high and low.

What about the Rhyme Scheme for a Quatrain?

I toss the branches up and down A And shake them to and fro,I whirl the leaves in flocks of brown A And send them high and low.

What about the Rhyme Scheme for a Quatrain?

I toss the branches up and downAnd shake them to and fro, B I whirl the leaves in flocks of brownAnd send them high and low. B

What about the Rhyme Scheme for a Quatrain?

I toss the branches up and down A And shake them to and fro, B I whirl the leaves in flocks of brown A And send them high and low. B

ABAB