Placing rhymes

In traditional verse, rhymes usually take place at the end of a line and are, therefore, called end-rhyme in end-line rhyme position.  Poets use that pattern so often, we assume end-rhyme appeals to poetry readers too, but, despite its popularity, it does have its drawbacks. 

One problem can be a jingle-jangle effect that’s especially jarring when lines come to an abrupt halt. In light forms, such as limericks or other humorous verse, jingles can be effective, but in serious verse, heavy end-line rhymes can ruin a tone or mood.

 

To soften the jingle-jangle jolt of rhymes, try these techniques:

 

• Build up an echo, internally within the lines, by choosing words with similar vowel sounds.

 

• Let "liquids" flow in the consonants you select – for instance, rhymes containing l, m, n, r. (If you say those letters aloud, you'll hear their flow.)

 

• Drop the syllabic stress at the end of lines by using rhymes that have a down-beat or a last syllable without any emphasis.

 

• Try alliteration within the lines to soften the end-line rhyming sounds.

 

• Use enjambment.

 

For more on enjambment, see the previous post, “Enjambment and rhyme placement tone down jangling rhymes.”

 

For more on alliteration, see "Using Alliteration for Sound Echoes and for Fun."

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©2021, Mary Harwell Sayler, from her book, A Poet’s Guide to Writing Poetry

 

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Enjambment and rhyme placement tone down jangling rhymes

Rhyming poetry often gets criticized for bringing readers to a full stop at the end of a line where words loudly jingle-jangle. The effect works well in nursery rhymes and humorous verse as reverberations add to the sense of play, levity, and humor, but in serious poetry, jingles seem to annoy free verse lovers and poetry critics!

To retain your rhymes but tone them down, a couple of workable options depend on how you break the lines.

1. Change the placement of rhyming pairs from end-line rhymes to internal rhymes. Making this happen is just like it sounds. i.e., Move lines around until the rhyming words appear inside a line, rather than at the end. Here’s an example from my Speaking Peach chapbook:


Accent
by Mary Harwell Sayler

Maybe it's my low voice, slow drawl, or way
of saying, "Y'all," (meaning, of course, a choice
of two or more individuals), but for some reason,

most people – male or female – think I need
some help. "Here let me do that for you," they
say, just trying to be kind. Most of the time,

I do not mind the opportunity to be cradled,
even coddled, by bolder folk than I –
those who feel best when they assist, but
perhaps I should resist the temptation

to be babied, even though I must persist
in a voice too hushed to sound insistent.


If you read the poem aloud, you’ll hear the rhymes – hopefully echoing without jangling – within the lines and also within some of the words – for example, voice/choice, way/say, drawl/y’all, assist/resist/persist/insistent.


2. Use enjambment to soften the ring of rhymes. This technique lets you place rhymes at the end of the lines for couplets or other traditional forms such as sonnets or villanelles that have a distinctive rhyme scheme pattern. Instead of coming to a full stop on each end-line rhyme, however, you keep the sentence going onto the next line or beyond. As an example of enjambment, here’s a poem from my Winning the Wars chapbook.


Postcard after the Scene
by Mary Harwell Sayler

In straight lines strung with golden light, the sun-
washed houses make a pleasing sight – the ones

still left, that is. Some stores stay open if they can:
sidewalk café, hair dresser, and vegetable stand,

but what I’ve seen seems pitiful and bleak.
Someone said five officers were killed last week

by a rifle. I didn’t hear the gun explode,
but I saw stone-silent shadows as we rode

through town in trucks. Our camp sits on a hill,
overlooking a village: so beautiful before blood spilled.


In that poem, “can” and “bleak” come to a full stop, but for the other lines, enjambment wraps the sentence around a rhyme before slowing down to a softened sound.

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© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

 
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