Rhyme Scheme & Meter

Fixed Form

traditional pattern applied to whole poem; limerick, sonnet, villanelle

Stanzaic Form

series of stanzas, same metrical pattern and rhyme scheme

Continuous Form

no formal grouping or set rhyme scheme, no formal meter

Couplet

2 lines

Tercet

3 lines

Quatrain

4 lines

Cinquain

5 lines

Sestet

6 lines

Septet

7 lines

Octave

8 lines

Limerick

AABBA

Villanelle

19-line poem with five tercets and one quatrain, best known for repeated rhyming refrains

Sonnet

14-line lyric poem, regular meter (usually iambic pentameter)

Rhyme Royal

ABABBCC

Terza Rima

ABA BCB CDC

Cinquain Rhyme Pattern

ABABB

Couplet Rhyme Pattern

AA BB CC DD

Enclosed Rhyme

ABBA

Ottavia Rhyme

ABABACC

Slant Rhyme

adjusting how word is said to force a rhyme

Shakespearean/English Sonnet

ABAB CDCD EFEFGG

Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet

ABBA ABBA CDE CDE or ABBA ABBA CDC DCD

Spenserian Sonnet

ABAB BCBC CDCD EE

Rhythm

natural rise and fall of language

Stressed/Accented

A syllable given more prominence in pronunciation

Meter

regular patterns of accent, measurable repetition of syllables

Foot

basic unit of meter, one syllable

Stanza

group of lines, metrical pattern repeats throughout

Scansion

process of defining metrical form of poem

Free Verse

no organized meter or rhyme scheme

Blank Verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Iamb, Iambic

unstressed, stressed - u,x

Trochee, Trochaic

stressed, unstressed - x,u

Anapest, Anapestic

unstressed, unstressed, stressed - u,u,x

Dactyl, Dactylic

stressed, unstressed, unstressed - x,u,u

Spondee, Spondaic

stressed, stressed - x,x