Rhyme scheme


A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.
An example of the ABAB rhyming scheme, from "To Anthea, who may Command him Anything", by Robert Herrick:

I Cried when

The rhyme patterns that are used have various effects, and can be used to
A basic distinction is between rhyme schemes that apply to a single stanza, and those that continue their pattern throughout an entire poem. There are also more elaborate related forms, like the sestina – which requires repetition of exact words in a complex pattern. Rhyming is not a mandatory feature of poetry; a four-line stanza with non-rhyming lines could be described as using the scheme ABCD.

Notation and examples

Notation used below:
Notable rhyme schemes:
and rapping's rhyme schemes include traditional schemes such as couplets, as well as forms specific to the genre, which are broken down extensively in the books How to Rap and Book of Rhymes. Rhyme schemes used in hip-hop music include
Couplets are the most common type of rhyme scheme in old school rap and are still regularly used, though complex rhyme schemes have progressively become more frequent. Rather than relying on end rhymes, rap's rhyme schemes can have rhymes placed anywhere in the bars of music to create a structure. There can also be numerous rhythmic elements which all work together in the same scheme – this is called internal rhyme in traditional poetry, though as rap's rhymes schemes can be anywhere in the bar, they could all be internal, so the term is not always used. Rap verses can also employ 'extra rhymes', which do not structure the verse like the main rhyme schemes, but which add to the overall sound of the verse.

Number of rhyme schemes for a poem with ''n'' lines

The number of different possible rhyme schemes for an n-line poem is given by the Bell numbers,
which for n = 1, 2, 3, ... are
Examples: We find one rhyme scheme for a one-line poem, two different rhyme schemes for a two-line poem, and five for a three-line poem: AAA, AAB, ABA, ABB, and ABC.
These counts, however, include rhyme schemes in which rhyme is not employed at all. There are many fewer rhyme schemes when all lines must rhyme with at least one other line; a count of these is given by the numbers,
For example, for a three-line poem, there is only one rhyming scheme in which every line rhymes with at least one other, while for a four-line poem, there are four such schemes.