Types of rhyme in versification

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

It is necessary to differentiate the concepts of rhyme and rhyme. If the first is the consonance of the endings of two words, then the second is the order of alternation of rhymes in the verse. Accordingly, rhyme is a broader concept than rhyme.

Types of rhymes

Methods of rhyming in versification are based on several types of rhymes. So, according to the quality and quantity of coincidences of syllables, rhymes are usually divided into exact and inexact. According to the specifics of stress - masculine (stress on the last vowel), feminine (stress on the penultimate vowel), dactylic and hyperdactylic (stress on the 3rd and 4th vowel sound from the end). If the lines, in addition to the vowel, coincide in the pre-stressed (reference) consonant sound, then such a rhyme is defined as rich. If this is not the case, the rhyme is called poor.

Types of rhyme

There are three main types of rhyme in versification:

• adjacent (steam room),
• cross (alternating),
• circular (encircling, enveloping).

Also, free rhyming is a separate type.

Adjacent (paired) type implies alternate consonance of adjacent lines - the first line rhymes with the second, the third, respectively, with the fourth, fifthfrom the sixth, etc. All types of rhyme in a poem can be conditionally designated as a diagram. So, the adjacent species is designated as "aabb". Example:

Only tear up now there is no (a) -

The light(s) is made differently.

And the accordion sings (b), That the freemen (b) disappeared.”

(S. A. Yesenin).

A special case of adjacent rhyming is the alternation of rhymes according to the scheme "aaaa".

Cross (alternate) rhyming is formed by alternating rhyming lines - the first rhymes with the third, the second with the fourth, the fifth with the seventh, etc.

I remember a wonderful moment(s):

You appeared before me (b), Like a fleeting vision(s), Like a genius of pure beauty (b)"

(A. S. Pushkin).

Circular (girdle, inclusive) type of rhyme is built according to the "abba" scheme. Accordingly, the first and fourth lines rhyme, as well as the second and third. This type in versification is less common than the previous two:

We are not drunk, we seem to be sober (a)

And probably we really are poets (b).

When, sprinkling strange sonnets (b), We speak with time on "You" (a).

(I. A. Brodsky).

Free types of rhyming occur when there is no pattern in the alternation of rhymes:

"Horse thief (a) was sneaking around the fence, Sunburned grapes (a), Sparrows pecked brushes (b), Sleeveless scarecrows nodding (in), But, interrupting the rustle of bunches (b), Some kind of roar of measures and tormented" (c).

(B. L. Pasternak).

Accordingly, in this example, the types of rhyme are combined: the first and second lines are an adjacent type, from the third to the sixth - a cross.

Rhyming and solid stanza

A whole stanza implies at least one pair for each rhyme. This ensures the indivisibility of the overall body of this stanza - it cannot be divided into smaller whole stanzas that have their own complete rhyme.

Depending on the number of rhymes that make up a verse, monostich, distich, tercet, quatrain, pentet, etc. forms are distinguished. when it contains an internal rhyme). The distich is built according to the "aa" scheme, having, accordingly, one rhyme for a whole stanza. Tercet also has one rhyme - the "aaa" scheme. At the same time, the tercet cannot be divided, since with any division we get at least one monostych, which is not an integral stanza.

Katren includes such types of rhyme as circular ("abba") and cross ("abab"). In the case of adjacent rhyme ("aabb"), the verse is divided into two independent distichs, each of which will be an integral stanza. The pentet, in turn, combines six rhymes of a single stanza.

Free and free verse

One should distinguish between free rhyming and freeform of verse, since they are not the same thing. Free types of rhyme in a poem are formed by the so-called. free verse - a form of versification with changing types of rhyme. That is, the lines rhyme in a different order. Free verse (aka white), in principle, does not use rhyme:

Listen (a)!

After all, if the stars light up (b) –

does anyone need it (at)?

So someone wants them to be (d)?”

(V. V. Mayakovsky).

At the same time, free verse cannot be equated with prose according to the principle: since there is no rhyme, how does this differ from, for example, a regular newspaper ad? One of the differences between white verse and prose is the tendency to recite, which distinguishes a verse text from a prose one. This trend is created due to the specific emotionality, the special mood of the poetic text, which does not accept monotonous reading. The second significant difference between free verse is its rhythm, which is formed due to a certain alignment of the number of syllables and stresses.