Exciting Writing Teaching Resources: Metre & Rhyme Schemes

This topic sheet was originally devised for the Verse Technique and Poetry course. There is a table of links to other teaching resources towards the bottom of this page.

ESTABLISHED SCHEMES

Whilst poets have continued to invent and reinvent metre and rhyme schemes over many centuries, some schemes have proved particularly enduring, perhaps in part because they are especially pleasing to the ear.

From the writer's perspective, the attraction of some established schemes lies in the challenge they pose. For example:

The Haiku demands much thought not only in terms of putting the requisite number of syllables in the right place but also in terms of saying something interesting in a mere mouthful of words.
The Rondel requires the writer to devise many variants of only two rhyming sounds and to incorporate one or two refrain lines without sacrificing interest or originality.
The Sonnet requires both exposition and development with strict metrical confines.
And so on.

Paddy Gormley's Proseverse project features a number of rhyme schemes. PG explains the rules governing the various rhyme schemes with the help of rhyming verse that itself adheres to those rules. Click here for further details.

The rules governing some of the most widely recognised verse forms are outlined below. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list.

Whether or not Exciting Writing participants feel motivated to use any of these forms, PG suggests that classical forms are at least worthy of consideration as starting points for the development of one's own metre and rhyme schemes.

The forms listed here are as follows. Click on any link to go straight to the appropriate point on the page.

BALLADE

A Ballade consists of three stanzas of eight lines each, followed by an "envoy" of four lines. The final line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of each subsequent stanza. The eight-line stanzas follow the scheme ABABBCBC (where the final, bold C is always the same syllable since the line is invariably repeated). The scheme for the envoy is BCBC, with the last line being repeated once again.

Some Ballades have two repeated lines instead of one: a "double refrain". The fourth line of each stanza is repeated in addition to the last line, giving the scheme ABABBCBC for the stanzas while the envoy switches to BBCC.

CHANT ROYAL

The Chant Royal, a French form, comprises five stanzas of eleven (sometimes ten) lines each followed by an "envoy" of five lines. The last line of the first stanza is repeated as a "refrain" at the end of each succeeding stanza and the envoy. A typical rhyme scheme might be ABABCDCDEDE for the long stanzas and DDEDE for the envoy, with the bold E indicating the repeated line and the non-bold Es being lines that rhyme with the refrain.

HAIKU

Haikus consist of seventeen syllables in three lines: five in the first and last lines and seven in the second.

KYRIELLE

The Kyrielle consist of two or more stanzas of four lines each. The first three lines of each stanza are iambic tetrameters (four feet, beginning with an unstressed syllable). The final line of each stanza is an iambic dimeter (two feet), repeated at the end of each stanza as a refrain, and invariably rhyming with the immediately preceding line. Accordingly the scheme is AABB, where the bold B is the refrain.

OTTAVA RIMA

Ottava Rima is an Italian verse form consisting of eight lines and using any metre. The rhyme scheme is ABABABCC.

RONDEL, RONDELET, ROUNDEL & RONDEAU

A Rondel consists of thirteen or fourteen lines with two rhymes and using one or two "refrain" lines that are repeated at various points in the verse. A typical verse scheme is ABBAABABABBAAB, where the bold letters mark the repeated lines and the non-bold letters indicate lines that rhyme with one or other refrain.

The Rondelet is a seven line variant of the Rondel, again with two rhymes, but with only one refrain: ABAABBA.

A further variant is the Roundel: eleven lines, two rhymes, one refrain: ABABBABABAB.

The Rondeau uses the opening words of the first line as a refrain. Since the refrain need not necessarily include the rhyming syllable of the first line, it introduces the possibility of a further, repeated end word which does not necessarily rhyme with either of the main rhyming sounds: AABBAABCABAC, where C marks the refrain.

SESTINA

The Sestina comprises six stanzas of six lines each, followed by a three-line stanza known as the "envoy". In classical a Sestina, the final stressed syllable of each line is subsequently repeated instead of being used to make a rhyme. In effect, the six syllables are repeated as line-endings six or seven times in the course of the Sestina, using a complex scheme that is reminiscent of bell changes: ABCDEF FAEBDC CFDABE ECBFAD BDFECA DCBEFA. Each line of the envoy also ends with one of the repeated sounds.

SONNET

A sonnet consist of fourteen pentameters (five feet), usually iambic (beginning with a single unstressed syllable).

The first stanza, normally consisting of eight lines (the "octet"), usually sets out the theme of the piece. The second stanza, consisting of the remaining six lines (the "sestet"), often marks a development of the theme.

Most sonnets use one or other of the two principal rhyme schemes as follows:

The original Italian scheme, favoured by Milton, is ABBAABBA CDECDE. The sestet is sometimes changed to CDCDCD.
Shakespearean sonnets use the scheme ABABCDCD EFEFGG.

TERZA RIMA

Terza Rima is a series of two or more stanzas of three lines each, concluding with a four-line stanza. Each stanza shares rhymes with the preceding and following stanzas if any, in a strict pattern that is reminiscent of a chain: ABA BCB CDC ... XYX YZYZ. The scheme is Italian in origin. English Terza Rima is usually written in iambic pentameter (five-footed lines beginning with an unstressed syllable).

TRIOLET

The Triolet comprises eight lines, with the first two lines repeated at the end. In other words, the first and seventh lines are identical and the second and eighth lines are identical. The rhyme scheme is ABABABAB, where the bold AB marks the repeated lines.

VILLANELLE

A Villanelle comprises five stanzas of three lines each followed by a four-line stanza. The first and third lines of the piece are refrain lines which rhyme with one another. They are repeated alternately as the last lines of the succeeding stanzas. Both refrains appear again as a rhyming couplet to end the piece. The scheme is ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA: the red A is the first refrain and the green A is the second refrain; all other letters indicate standard rhymes that chime with one or other of the refrains.