


Dactylic: stress is on the antepenultimate (third from last) syllable in the rhyming words.Double: stress is on the penultimate (second to last) syllable in the rhyming words (underst anding and dem anding).Single: stress is on the final syllable in the rhyming words (engin eer and car eer).The following are types of perfect rhymes: Strictly speaking, the final stressed vowel and all sounds that follow it must be identical. Perfect rhyme (full rhyme, exact rhyme, true rhyme): Words that rhyme perfectly (m ad and gl ad, r im and d im). Pararhyme: All the consonants match in sound but the vowels do not ( robot, rabbit). Mind rhyme: Suggesting a rhyme by leaving a word out, often used to avoid stating profanity (A handsome lad met a young miss / He desperately wanted to give her a…) Internal rhymes can also refer to two words that rhyme within a single line. Internal rhyme: Unlike the common end rhyme, at least one word of an internal rhyme occurs anywhere except the end of a line one of the rhyming words can fall at the beginning of a line, but usually they are set in the middle of a line (The cat chased her tail / She’s fast- paced and spinning). Imperfect rhyme (slant rhyme, partial rhyme, near rhyme, oblique rhyme, half rhyme, etc.): Rhymes in which the sounds match but not exactly or perfectly ( bag and mat). Identical rhymes are widely viewed as a lower form of rhyming. Identical rhyme: Using the same word to make a rhyme, even if it’s a homophone (Turn up the bass / I arrived at the base). Eye rhymes were popular back when most poetry was experienced visually rather than audibly.įorced rhyme: Using awkward or incorrect structuring of language to render a rhyme (I made a bet / A win I’ll get). Consonance is a type of alliteration.Įye rhyme (syllabic rhyme, tail rhyme): Two words that look like they rhyme but don’t sound the same (d ate, passion ate).

Assonance is a type of alliteration.Ĭonsonance: When one consonant sound is used twice or more in close proximity, it renders an effect similar to a rhyme ( blue bells). Let’s look at some of the types of rhymes that are available to poets and writers who craft stories in verse.Īlliteration: The repetition of the sound of a letter, usually at the beginning of two or more words and also in stressed syllables ( pur ple peonies, s ad b allad).Īssonance: When a single vowel sound is used twice or more in close proximity, the effect is similar to a rhyme (c aught w alking). People often think rhyming poems are rigid, conforming to strict meter and perfect rhymes at the end of every line, but within the world of rhyming, there is a lot of flexibility. Seuss to the hilarious poetry of Shel Silverstein. After all, these are the first poems most of us encounter as children, from the delightful stories of Dr.
