rhyme scheme

noun
1.
the pattern of rhymes used in a poem, usually marked by letters to symbolize correspondences, as rhyme royal, ababbcc.
Origin
1930-35
Examples from the web for rhyme scheme
  • Note, however, that the poem lacks the rhyme scheme and rhythm of a sonnet.
  • Show a peer or teacher that a blues stanza has a rhyme scheme, as well as two lines that repeat and a third line that answers.
Encyclopedia Article for rhyme scheme

the formal arrangement of rhymes in a stanza or a poem. If it is one of a number of set rhyme patterns, it may be identified by the name of the poet with whom the set rhyme is generally associated (for example, the Spenserian stanza is named for Edmund Spenser). The rhyme scheme is usually notated with lowercase letters of the alphabet (as ababbcbcc, in the case of the Spenserian stanza), each different letter representing a different rhyme.

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