Types of Poetry and Rhyme

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Figurative Language

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Changes the literal meaning to make a meaning fresh or clearer, to express complexity, to capture a physical or sensory effect, or to extend meaning.

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Internal Rhyme

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A rhyme within the words of a line.

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Enjambment

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The lack of a pause between two lines of a poem.

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Half-Rhyme (Slant Rhyme)

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A rhyme where two words have similar consonant sounds but different vowel sounds, e.g., 'bell' and 'bill'. Also called a slant rhyme or imperfect rhyme.

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Elision

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Deliberate omission of unstressed syllables, typically in order to maintain rhythm, e.g., 'o'er' for 'over'.

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Stanza

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A group of metrical lines or verses, usually no fewer than four, arranged in a certain pattern. A stanza is often called a 'verse'.

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Rhyme Scheme

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The pattern of rhyming line endings in a poem, e.g., 'abab' means each stanza has four lines, with lines one and three rhyming with each other and lines two and four rhyming with each other.

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Couplet

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A stanza of two lines that usually rhyme.

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Quatrain

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A stanza of four lines, often with alternating rhymes.

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Sonnet

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A 14-line poem, of which there are various forms (Shakespearean, Spenserian, etc.).