Rhyme is the repetition of a syllable or syllables with identical or very similar sounds at the end of words. Rhyming words usually occur at the end of lines of poetry, although internal rhymes sometimes can be found. Not all languages employ rhyme as a regular element in poetry. Highly inflected languages with many repetitive grammatical endings (such as ancient Latin and Greek) frequently do not use rhyme as a regular poetic feature. See the Additional Links below for information on rhyming practices in Spanish and French poetry.
In languages that do normally utilize rhyme in their poetry, regular rhyme schemes are often employed as part of the meter in specific poetic genres. When analyzing poetry, rhyme schemes are generally described by using a letter of the alphabet to designate each identical rhyme (e.g., the English sonnet typically has the following rhyme scheme—abab, cdcd, efef, gg).
There are two basic types of rhyme:
When analyzing poetry, it is not enough to identify the formal rhyme scheme. You should also pay attention to the specific words the author chooses to rhyme. Are the rhyming words crucial or peripheral to the meaning of the poem? Are they similar or different in form? (Examples: knot / not—homonyms but a noun and an adverb; bee / exceedingly—different in size; Janet / upon it—one word/two words).