English Literature / Unit 1 ENL 0019 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Masculine and Feminine Rhyme
Captions available
The idea
A masculine ending closes a line on a stressed syllable; a feminine ending closes it on an unstressed one. Masculine rhymes pair stressed syllables, such as day and May. Feminine rhymes pair a stress and a light syllable, as Sonnet twenty rhymes "painted" with "acquainted."
In practice
Stressed close or unstressed close.
Where people slip
The terms describe syllables, not subjects.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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