19th Century British Poetry

Sound is a very important aspect of poetry. Probably one of the most important sound-features of poetry is rhyme (words that sound similar). For a more detailed discussion of rhyme, refer to Norton's Anthology of Poetry, 3rd Edition, p. 1410-1412.

There are various ways to describe rhyme:

• Perfect Rhyme, Imperfect Rhyme and Eye Rhyme

Perfect Rhyme is also known as exact rhyme, full rhyme or true rhyme. In perfect rhyme the rhyming words have sounds that correspond exactly, for instance: "red" and "bread"; "man" and "fan"; "feather" and "weather". Note that "red" and "bread" are not spelled the same; however, their rhyming sounds correspond exactly. Therefore "red" and "bread" is an example of perfect rhyme.

With Imperfect Rhyme the rhyming sounds are not exact, for instance: bone & moon; starry & barley; gone & thin. There are various types of imperfect rhyme, for instance off-rhyme. In off-rhyme the vowel sound and/or concluding consonant is changed; an example is "room" and "storm" or "gone" and "alone". Another type of imperfect rhyme is vowel rhyme. In vowel rhyme, only the vowels rhyme, e.g. "green" and "leaves" or "climb" and "eyes". Pararhyme is another type of imperfect rhyme. With pararhyme the vowel sounds are different, but the consonants are the same; for instance, "trod" and "trade".

Another phenomenon, known as Eye Rhyme, isn't really rhyme. With eye rhyme words merely look similar (in spelling), but actually sound very different. Examples of eye rhyme would be "prove" and "love" or "daughter" and "laughter". Note that these examples might also be example of parahyme.

• End Rhyme and Internal Rhyme

When words at the end of lines rhyme, it is known as End Rhyme. Both words should be at the end of the lines for it to be end rhyme. When words in the middle of a verse line rhymes with any other word(s), it is known as Internal Rhyme.

• Masculine and Feminine Rhyme

When single syllable words rhyme, it is known as masculine rhyme. Rhyming words with more than one syllable, where the stress falls on the last syllable, is also known as masculine rhyme. Examples of masculine rhyming words are: horse; divorce; remorse.

Feminine rhyme refers to rhyming words that are more than one syllable long, and where the stress does NOT fall on the last syllable. Examples of feminine rhyming words are: "turtle" and "fertile"; "intellectual" and "factual".