OK, there’s only
one week of Poetry Month left ~ so for those of you who LOVE rhyming poems ~
this is your lucky day! There are NUMEROUS patterns to rhyming poems, the use
of end rhymes where the last sound of the end word in one line of poetry
rhymes with the last sound of the end word in another line of poetry.
Here are a couple
of FREE resources you can use to find rhyming words – just type in the word in
the box, click, and poof ~ a rhyming word appears:
And if you want to do a deep dive into rhyming, I
suggest this website: Study Smarter - Rhymes
(pop-ups on here will want you to pay for a membership – just click somewhere
else on the page and they should go away. Or click on the X in the upper right
corner of that type of pop-up. You do not need to pay to read this page ~ and
just keep scrolling until you can go no further – lots of info here). Or, just
keep reading here and do the simple rhyming scheme we are doing today.
And if you’re
a crazy person and you REALLY need to know all about rhymes – go here, but try
not to get lost . . . SO many rhyming details:
Today we are
going to keep things pretty simple and we will use the most common rhyming
scheme:
a – b – a –
b
This is
where the words at the end of the first and third lines rhyme and the words at
the end of the second and fourth line rhyme.
You should also try to keep the
meters of lines ‘a’ the same as each other and the meters of line ‘b’ the same
as each other. This can be done by counting syllables.
Here’s an example of a rhyming poem with
an A-B-A-B scheme written by Louisa May Alcott (it’s in the Public Domain – so
I can use it here).
To One
Who Teaches Me
by Louisa May Alcott ©
To one who teaches me (A) [6 syllables]
The sweetness and the
beauty (B) [7syllables]
Of doing faithfully (A) [6 syllables]
And cheerfully my duty." (B) [7syllables]
And here’s
one that I wrote ~ just for fun:
In this
little 4-line example I made up, you can see the end words in the first and
third lines rhyme and they both lines have 5 beats (5 syllables). The end words
in the second and fourth lines rhyme and both lines have 6 beats (6
syllables).
I went to the store (A) [5 syllables]
To buy a loaf of bread. (B) [6 syllables]
I found something more (A) [5 syllables]
“So typical,” I said. (B) [6 syllables]
© Stephanie Abney 2011
(Seems silly to copyright such a simple
little sample verse but there you have it)
Here’s one I dashed off this morning
~ just a silly little “slice of life” poem. The older Jim and I get, the more
cute and funny little routines we develop. He has a single sister, whom we
adore, and one or two nights a week she’ll come over. We’ll have some dinner
and then we play games. We laugh and laugh and in doing so, our bond increases
and so this little rhyming poem came to mind:
We play a game of cards, (A) [6 syllables]
Jim, his sister, and me. (B) [6 syllables]
With laughter by the yards, (A) [6 syllables]
It’s just as things should be. (B) [6 syllables]
© Stephanie Abney 2023
Here’s your handy dandy syllable
counter if you need it:
Syllable Counter
You can just do four lines or you can
create a longer poem by making several stanzas of four lines each, always rhyming
lines one and three as well as lines two and four.
Also, note that with more than one verse, oftentimes the very last stanza can vary, or not, but all previous stanzas should follow the pattern.
*** Just a heads up: for tomorrow, spine poetry – making rhymes out of the titles found on the spines of books. This is always a fun one so be scanning your bookcases. Cheers!!
OK, off you go – rhyme away!!
PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my
personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing
it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any
poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a
result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who
writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them
without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them
as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!
*** Also, if you choose to
post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome.
But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post
your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S
SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent
considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share
with you. Thanks for respecting my work.
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