Rhyme Schemes and Patterns

ABAB is a rhyme scheme where the first and third lines rhyme, and the second and fourth lines rhyme.

AABB is a rhyme pattern where the first and second lines rhyme, and the third and fourth lines rhyme.

ABCB is a rhyme scheme where the first, second, and fourth lines rhyme, and the third line does not rhyme.

ABA BCB CDC DED EFE is an example of a terza rima rhyme scheme, where the first and third lines of each stanza rhyme, and the second line of each stanza rhymes with the first and third lines of the following stanza.

ABCA is a rhyme scheme where the first, second, and third lines rhyme, and the fourth line does not rhyme.

To err is human, to forgive divine is an example of a heroic couplet, which is a pair of rhyming lines in iambic pentameter.

ABCB is a rhyme scheme where the first, third, and fourth lines rhyme, and the second line does not rhyme.

ABAB BCBC CDCD EE is an example of a Spenserian stanza, which is a nine-line stanza with a rhyme scheme of ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.

ABCB is a rhyme scheme where the first, second, and fourth lines rhyme, and the third line does not rhyme.

Do not go gentle into that good night is an example of a villanelle, which is a nineteen-line poem with a rhyme scheme of ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA.

ABCB is a rhyme scheme where the first, second, and third lines rhyme, and the fourth line does not rhyme.

Sonnet 18 is an example of a sonnet, which is a fourteen-line poem with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

ABCB is a rhyme scheme where the first, second, and fourth lines rhyme, and the third line does not rhyme.

A haiku is a three-line poem with a rhyme scheme of 5-7-5 syllables.

ABCB is a rhyme scheme where the first, second, and third lines rhyme, and the fourth line does not rhyme.