Rhyme scheme refers to the particular lines in a piece of poetry that rhyme, usually by using words at the end of each line that sound similar.
Let it go! Let it go! Those rhyme schemes never bothered me anyway!
All right, you’re probably already a pro at using rhyme scheme in your poetry, but let’s go over it just to make sure! Rhyme scheme refers to the particular lines in a piece of poetry that rhyme, usually by using words at the end of each line that sound similar. There is no one rule when it comes to rhyme scheme patterns. The simplest rhyme scheme is the “AABB” pattern, where in a four-line stanza, the first two lines rhyme and so do the second two lines. Most songs and traditional nursery rhymes use this pattern: “Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man. Bake me a cake as fast as you can. Pat it and shape it and mark it with B. Put it in the oven for baby and me.” In rhyme scheme, the words at the end of the sentence don’t have to look exactly the same, but they should sound similar when spoken out loud. The second most common rhyme scheme is the “ABAB” pattern, where the rhyming lines alternate. If you’re already rad at rhyming you can get super fancy with patterns like “ABBA” or even “ABABCC” (yup it can get pretty crazy). Be imaginative and try to create your own rhyme scheme.
Meanwhile, can you name the rhyme schemes in these poems?
Still I Rise
BY MAYA ANGELOU
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Let it Go
BY IDINA MENZEL
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen.
A kingdom of isolation,
and it looks like I'm the Queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in;
Heaven knows I've tried
Don't let them in,
don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel,
don't let them know
Well now they know
Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care
what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway
It's funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can't get to me at all
It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me,
I'm free!
Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You'll never see me cry
Here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let the storm rage on
My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back, the past is in the past
Let it go, let it go
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway!