English Literature / Unit 1 ENL 0020 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Lettering a Rhyme Scheme
The idea
A rhyme scheme is the rhyming pattern of a regular poem, written with letters. Give the first line's end sound the letter a. Give every later line that rhymes with it a as well. Give the first new sound b, the next new sound c, and go on through the alphabet, so repeated letters mark rhyming lines. Group the letters by stanza with spaces. Sonnet one hundred thirty runs sun, red, dun, head: the first and third rhyme, the second and fourth, so the opening quatrain is abab, and the whole sonnet letters as abab cdcd efef gg. Then use the pattern: a scheme of three quatrains and a couplet names a Shakespearean sonnet, a closing couplet signals a summary or a turn, and a scheme like aba bcb cdc names terza rima.
In practice
New sound, new letter; same sound, same letter.
Where people slip
Letter by sound, not spelling, and expect slant rhymes in some poems. A long scheme answers form questions on its own, so letter it before guessing.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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