Rhyme & rhythm

Rhyme

Rhyme can make an important contribution to the overall impact of a poem and it is such a feature of poetry that often people expect poetry to rhyme, even though much of it doesn’t. Like several of the other features that we have looked at, rhyme is quite easy to spot but it is rather more difficult to explain what effect it has on a poem. In order to establish this, each poem needs to be looked at individually.

Here are some possible effects to look for:

• The sound effects created, for example a ‘musical’ quality; a jarring, discordant effect etc.
• The emphasis that it places on certain words, giving them a prominence.
• It draws lines and stanzas together linking ideas and images.
• It creates a pattern.
• It can give a sense of ending or finality – the rhyming couplet is often used to give a sense of ending as in Shakespeare’s Sonnett XVIII –

‘So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.’

Philip Larkin, in his poem Take One Home for the Kiddies uses a straightforward rhyme scheme:

On shallow straw, in shadeless glass, A

Huddled by empty bowls, they sleep: B

No dark, no dawn, no earth, no grass – A

Mam, get us one of them to keep B

Living toys are something novel, C

But it soon wears off somehow. D

Fetch the shoebox, fetch the shovel – C

Mam, we’re playing funerals now D

Here, Larkin uses an ABAB, CDCD rhyme scheme, in that alternate lines rhyme.

What effect do you think this rhyme scheme has on the poem?

It is simple and straightforward, suited to the simple message of the poem. It also creates a cyclical pattern that reflects the events of the poem.

Rhythm

Another kind of pattern in poetry can be created through the rhythm, which consists of patterns of recurring stresses and pauses. The rhythm in a poem is, perhaps, more difficult to identify than some of the other features we have looked at. Often, it helps to read the poem aloud in order to get a feel for the rhythm pattern.

Watch the video below to help you remember the key poetic terms and the forms and structure of poetry to help you achieve the top grades.