Rhyming words are words that sound the same at the ends, such as cat / hat, or singing / ringing.
When a poem has rhyming words at the ends of its lines, these are called “end rhymes.” Here is an example of end rhyme:
My cat is nice.
My cat likes mice.
A “rhyme scheme” is a way of describing the pattern of end rhymes in a poem. Each new sound at the end of a line is given a letter, starting with “A,” then “B,” and so on. If an end sound repeats the end sound of an earlier line, it gets the same letter as the earlier line.
Here are three slightly different cat poems, each with a different rhyme scheme. The first is AABB, the second is ABAB, and the third is ABCB):
AABB
This poem has an AABB rhyme scheme because the first and second lines rhyme with one another, and the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other, but the first and second lines do not rhyme with the third and fourth lines.
My cat is nice.
My cat likes mice.
My cat is fat.
I like my cat.
ABAB
This version has an ABAB rhyme scheme because the first and third lines rhyme with each other and so the second and fourth lines.
My cat is nice.
My cat is fat.
My cat likes mice.
I like my cat.
ABCB
And this version has an ABCB rhyme scheme because the second and fourth lines rhyme with one another, but the first and third lines don’t rhyme with any other lines.
My cat is gray.
My cat is fat.
My cat is cute.
I like my cat.
Remember, rhyme schemes only refer to the end rhymes, and not to internal rhymes. The line “My cat is fat” has an internal rhyme with the words “cat” and “fat,” but this is not part of the rhyme scheme.
More than One Stanza
If your poem has more than one stanza, and the lines of the first stanza don’t rhyme with the lines of subsequent stanzas, you will choose more letters from the alphabet. For example, the rhyme scheme of the following two stanzas is ABCB DEFE.
My cat is brown.
My cat is fat.
My cat is cute.
I like my cat.
My cat is fun.
He likes to play.
He plays all night.
He plays all day.
Rhyme Schemes of Poetic Forms
A poetic “form” is a type of poem that follows a specific set of rules. Some forms rhyme while others do not. For example, haikus, acrostics, and concrete poems typically don’t rhyme.
Most rhyming poetic forms, such as limericks, clerihews, sonnets, and villanelles, have a defined rhyme scheme as one of the rules.
For example, the rhyme scheme of a limerick is AABBA, as in this poem:
There was a young fellow named Hall
Who fell in the spring in the fall.
‘Twould have been a sad thing
Had he died in the spring,
But he didn’t—he died in the fall.