Rhyme and Meter

1. Rhyme

 Meaning  The repetition of similar sounds  The sounds are not always exactly the same  The spelling does not have to be the same  Example  Thinking , linking  Bake, cake    Frog, hog High, sky Mean, fine

2. Exact Rhyme

 Meaning  When the sounds that rhyme are exactly the same sounds.  Example  Hat, cat  Free, bee Exactly the same sounds .

3. Approximate Rhyme / Half Rhyme

 Meaning  When the words repeat some sounds, but are not exact echoes  Example     Mean, fine Rate, bet Life, die Beef, streets Sounds are similar, but not exact

4. End Rhymes

 Meaning  When the rhymes come at the end of the lines  Example Where in this b ook do you think I should l ook ?

Every day I look at the s ky.

I think of my life and ask myself why.

5. Internal Rhymes

 Meaning  Rhymes that occur within a line of poetry  Example  I set my hat on the mat  I was a fool who skipped school

6. Rhyme Scheme

 Meaning   A regular pattern of rhyme Letters are used to represent like sounds  Example A B A B = Riches I hold in light esteem , And Love I laugh to scorn ; And lust of Fame was but a dream That vanished with the morn -

A

A

B

A

A

A

B

A

7. Meter

 Meaning  The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry as expressed by syllabication.

 Syllabication is the use of stressed and unstressed markings.

8. Foot/Feet

 Meaning  A “ foot ” is the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up a recurrent metric unit of a line.

 Example

9. Scanning

 We “ scan ” a poem to determine its basic meter and to consider the relevance of that rhythm to the meaning of the poem.  When we scan a poem, we begin by saying the poetic lines aloud, paying careful attention to the syllables which seem to be stressed (pronounced with more emphasis) .

10. Iambs

 This pattern of

~ /

(unstressed/stressed) is called an

iamb .

 The following are examples of iambic feet.

Other Patterns

Along with the iamb, there are other possible patterns: Pattern Noun Adjective ~ / iamb iambic ~ ~ / anapest anapestic / ~ trochee trochaic / ~ ~ dactyl dactylic / / spondee spondaic