Rhyme

Rhyme, likeness of the terminal sounds of words, frequently used in versification either at the end of a line of verse or within the line. Rhyme functions as an element of rhythm, emphasizing the beat. There are three types of true rhymes: masculine rhymes, in which the final syllable of the word or line is stressed (“spring”, “bring”); feminine rhymes, in which two consecutive syllables, the first of which is accented, are alike in sound (“certain”, “curtain”); and triple rhymes, in which all three syllables of a word are identical (“flowery”, “showery”). Words in which the vowel and the following consonants in a stressed syllable are identical in sound, even if spelled differently, are called perfect rhymes (“two” and “too”, or “spring” and “bring”). In eye, or sight, rhyme the words look as if they rhyme, but do not: “move”, “love”. Another type of irregular rhyme utilizes the similarity of consonant sounds: “shift”, “shaft”. This is very often referred to as consonance. Assonance is the similarity of vowel sounds, as in “grow”, “home”. A pair of rhyming lines is called a couplet; three lines that rhyme, a triplet. Traditional poetic forms have prescribed rhyming patterns; for example, sonnets tend to rhyme either abba abba cde cde or abab cdcd efef gg.Blank verse is regular in metre but does not rhyme; free verse is irregular in metre and also does not rhyme.

See also Poetry.