Shall I compare thee to a summer ’ s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

1. What Is Rhyme? • Rhyme is the repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem. • The pattern of rhymed lines in a poem is called its rhyme scheme. To indicate rhyme scheme, give each new end rhyme a new letter of the alphabet. a b a b Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. from “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” by William Shakespeare

2. Types of Rhyme • There are several types of rhyme. • end rhyme • internal rhyme • approximate rhyme

3. End Rhyme • End rhyme occurs at the end of lines in a poem. • End rhymes are usually spaced one to four lines apart. Here, in the summer, at a broken pane, The yellow wasps come in, and buzz and build Among the rafters; wind and snow and rain All enter, as the seasons are fulfilled. from “In a Garret” by Elizabeth Akers Allen

4. Internal Rhyme Internal rhyme occurs within a line of a poem. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,  Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,—  While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,  As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.  from “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

5. Approximate Rhyme • Approximate rhyme occurs when two words sound similar but do not rhyme exactly. • Approximate rhymes are also called half rhymes, slant rhymes, or imperfect rhymes. And now the lowest pine-branch Is drawn across the disk of the sun. Old friends who will forget me soon, I must go on Towards those blue death mountains I have forgot so long. from “The Blue Symphony” by John Gould Fletcher