Rhyme is one of the most popular characteristics of poetry. Although poetry does not have to rhyme, rhyming is common and has been used throughout history in poems and songs. Rhyming has been used as far back as the 10th century BCE in the Chinese Shi Jing. Rhyming is also in pre-Islamic Arabic writing and one of its most popular uses is in Middle English poetry and in Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets. Rhyme is used to this day in rock, pop, blues, and folk music too. Why does rhyme span so much of history? Rhyming is pleasing to the ear. It is what poets call “music” and is the repetition of sound. Repeated sound ties the poem together and helps us relate to its message.

Rhyme is when the sound of one word corresponds to the sound of another word. This corresponding sound typically happens at the end of the word. Here is an example of rhyme in Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 18":

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Can you see the words that sound the same? Here is the poem again with some of the rhyming words highlighted. The words that rhyme with one another are bolded. They aren’t all highlighted though! Can you find the others?

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Say these rhyming words aloud to yourself. See how the words sound the same? They are spelled similarly, too, and the same letters are at the end of the word. However, rhyming words aren’t always spelled with similar letters. When in doubt say them aloud! Do they sound the same?

Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 18" was written in 1609. The poem below is a set of song lyrics from the blues song “My Babe” written by Willie Nixon in 1955 performed by Little Walter. Again, rhyming spans history! Can you see the words that rhyme in this song? Note that a repeated word doesn’t rhyme with itself: “babe” doesn’t rhyme with “babe” from the line before it.

My baby don't stand no cheatin', my babe
Oh yeah she don't stand no cheatin', my babe
Oh yeah she don't stand no cheatin'
She don't stand none of that midnight creepin'
My babe, true little baby, my babe

My babe, I know she love me, my babe
Oh yes, I know she love me, my babe
Oh yes, I know she love me,
She don't do nothin' but kiss and hug me
My babe, true little baby, my babe

My baby don't stand no cheatin', my babe
Oh no, she don't stand no cheatin', my babe
Oh no, she don't stand no cheatin',
Ev'rything she do she do so pleasin'
My babe, true little baby, my babe

My baby don't stand no foolin', my babe
Oh yeah, she don't stand no foolin', my babe
Oh yeah, she don't stand no foolin',
When she's hot there ain't no coolin'
My babe, true little baby, my babe
She's my baby (true little baby) ...

Exercise:

1. Brainstorm words that rhyme. Make a list and write them as pairs.

Example:

Cat, rat
Slow, low
Flower, power
Rich, ditch

2. We’re going to create couplets that rhyme with one another! You can choose to have these couplets in one poem together or on their own as small poems. Couplets are 2 lines grouped together. Let’s create some below.

Look at your rhyming 2-word pairs from above and pick your favorite to start off the first couplet. The first line will end with the first rhyming word.

3. _______________ (rhyming word #1)
_______________ (rhyming word #2)

The challenge: Fill in the line with a sentence. The sentence must end with that rhyming word.

    Example:
    All I wanted for Christmas was a cute cat,
    instead my parents gave me a dusty, yucky rat.

Note: Rhymes often have more music when the lines are similar. See how these two lines are similar in length. This makes it easier to hear the music between “cat” and “rat”.  

4. Keep going! Again, you can create couplets that are their own poems or put these couplets in one larger poem together.

5. Share your musical, rhyming masterpiece!