Rhyme Scheme Examples

The pattern of rhymes at the end of the lines of a poem is called the rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is denoted using letters.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.
Jack jump over a candle stick.

The rhyme scheme for these two lines would be AA because "quick" and "stick" rhyme.

Example:

Row, row, row the boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

The rhyme scheme of these lines would be ABCB because "stream" and "dream" rhyme.

Examples from Literature:

The rhyme scheme for each set of lines is noted at the end of the lines.

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, A
And sorry I could not travel both B
And be one traveler, long I stood A
And looked down one as far as I could A
To where it bent in the undergrowth. B

"Sonnet 130" by William Shakespeare

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; A
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; B
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; A
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. B
I have seen roses damasked, red and white, C
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; D
And in some purfumes is there more delight C
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. D
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know E
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; F
I grant I never saw a goddess go; E
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. F
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare G
As any she belied with false compare. G