For our second installment in this series, we will be discussing rhyme. Like meter, rhyme is not imperative for writing good poetry, but it can be an incredibly powerful tool when you know how and when to use it.
Lesson 2: Rhyme Time
Lesson 2: Rhyme Time
When you hear the word “rhyme,” what comes to mind?
Is it words, like “spy” and “fly?” If so, you aren’t alone. That particular type of rhyme is known as an “end rhyme,” and it is the most widely understood rhyme. However, there are a few other types of rhyme that are equally important, called: alliteration, assonantal, and slant rhymes. Let’s take a look at some examples, beginning with the more familiar, end rhyme.
End rhymes:
End rhymes are words that end in the same sound. Though they often appear at the end of a line, they don’t have to be placed at the end. In fact they can be placed anywhere, and sometimes even multiple times within a single line.
A prime example of end rhymes can be seen in Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.”
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could…”
Excerpt from Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”
As you’ve probably noticed, whether the rhyming syllables are spelled the same is not as important as whether they sound the same. Note that in this example, wood, stood, and could are all end rhymes.
So when should you use end rhymes?
For the sake of time I will only briefly go over this topic here, and save a more detailed explanation for a separate blog piece. What I will say is that like anything else, form dictates function. If you want a more lyrical piece, then adding end rhymes – and meter – will help achieve that goal.
Alliteration rhyme:
Alliteration rhymes are brilliant for adding a rhyme flair while avoiding the lyrical style of end rhymes. There are also different variations of alliteration. It can be strong, with two sounds (i.e. G and L), such as: gloss and glamour. Or it can be slightly weaker with only one shared sound (S), such as: spoon and sew.
One example of alliteration within poetry is from Sir Walter Scott‘s Marmion,
“O, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive!”
Sir Walter Scott
What you may notice first is the end rhyme; however, if you look at the words within the lines, you will find six alliteration rhymes.
- what
- web
- we
- weave
- when
- we
I suppose, technically, there are only five alliteration rhymes, but one is simply used twice.
Scott’s use of end rhyme, alliteration rhyme, and meter in these two lines make it very lyrical, so this is not the best example of how alliteration can help avoid sounding too lyrical.
Let’s take a look at a different example. This time we will examine a quote by Martin Luther King.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
King applies the use of two different alliteration rhymes: M and C.
- The first includes three words: measure, man, and moments.
- The second includes four words: comfort, convenience, challenge, and controversy.
Although this is a quote, rather than a poem, it wonderfully illustrates how alliteration can be used in a non-sing-songy way. Additionally, it shows how poetic elements can be applied to more than just poetry.
Assonantal rhyme:
Assonantal rhymes differ in that they deal with vowel sounds within a word. For instance, the “oo” sound in spoon and stew, or the “ah” sound in frost and wash.
If we use the same quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
You can see assonantal rhymes – specifically, for the short E vowel, the short A vowel, and the short O vowel:
For the short “e” sound (e.g. like the “e” in egg):
- ultimate
- measure
- moments
- convenience
- challenge
For the short “a” sound (e.g. like the “a” in fan):
- man
- stands
- challenge
For the short “o” vowel (e.g. like the “o” in continuous):
- not
- comfort
- convenience
- controversy
As you probably noticed, assonantal rhymes are a great deal more subtle than other types of rhymes, and can sometimes go unnoticed unless you search for them. That being said, the subtlety of assonantal rhymes still impacts one’s writing and can give it a poetic flavor without making it overly lyrical.
Slant rhyme:
The final rhyme we will be discussing is the slant rhyme, which is somewhat of a neglected stepchild of the other rhymes. The easiest way to define a slant rhyme is by calling it an “almost rhyme.” In other words, it’s not a complete rhyme, but shares a similar sound in the last syllables of each word. For instance, the “st” and “s” sounds in frost and moss, or the short A vowel sounds in unlatch and stash.
Again, the quote from the previous example can also illustrate the use of slant rhymes:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
These are the slant rhymes in this example:
- moments and convenience
It may seem redundant to keep using this same example, but that just shows how good of a quote it is! Every aspect of rhyme – with the exception of an end rhyme – is in this one sentence. From a literary stand point, that’s quite impressive! Moreover, it supports the idea that poetic elements can be used in all parts of life, not just poetry.
Rhyme time:
Now that we have discussed these four primary types of rhyme, let’s look at a poem that uses all of them. The following poem is a villanelle by Elizabeth Bishop, entitled “One Art.”
“One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.
—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
See if you can spot the different types of rhyme before checking below.
- end rhyme: master, disaster, fluster, faster, vaster, gesture, intent, spent, meant, went, continent, evident; you and too (hidden inside last stanza).
- alliteration: farther, faster, fluster; day and door, master, many; practice and places; losing, lost, loss, last, lied, look, loved; realms and rivers
- assonantal: art and hard; losing, you, too; practice and travel,
- slant: lost and loss, keys and badly.
Now that we have discussed the different types of rhyme, and looked at how each are used, you should have a better understanding of how to use these techniques in your own writing. For instance, this may mean using a subtle assonantal rhyme, or an obvious end rhyme, in order to shape the emotional presence of your work. Whether you’re writing a poem, a speech, or a novel, understanding the basics of rhyme provides you with the knowledge to make your words more aesthetically pleasing and emotionally stimulating.
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