Part I Partial Rhyme and Internal Rhyme

Read the following haiku:

Along the shoreline,
knee-deep in the winter bay,
one gray, lone heron.
What possible meanings does this poem have?
Many poems use end rhyme where the last syllable of one line rhymes
with the last syllable of another line. In the haiku above, what two lines
come close to rhyming?
When poets use the very last sound of a syllable to rhyme, we call this
partial rhyme or slant rhyme. In this case, the following are all partial
rhymes:
Back, truck, lick, broke, stock
Man, upon, thin, fun
Bay, tea, toy, weigh (notice the last y sound in each)
Try writing a haiku of your own with the first and last lines partially
rhyming.
Part II End Rhymes and Rhyme Scheme
Traditional rhyming forms of poetry follow particular patterns of rhyming,
and there is a specific way of indicating that pattern when reading a
rhyming poem. Typically, we look at the ending sound of the first line and
assign it the small case letter a not unlike the way we assign a number
value to the letter x in math. So, if we look at the following poem:
Stolen Credit Card
After the theft
Out I was left.
After he swiped
Out I was wiped.
Edmund Conti
we can see that the first line ends with an eft sound, so well designate
that with the letter a. The second line also ends with the same sound, so
it too will receive the letter a. The next line ends with an iped sound,

which is different from eft, so well label it with letter b. The final line
also ends with an iped sound, so it too is labeled with b. So, our rhyme
pattern will look like this:
Stolen Credit Card
After the theft -- a
Out I was left. -- a
After he swiped -- b
Out I was wiped. -- b
An easier way to say this rather than marking the actual poem is to say it
follows an aabb rhyme scheme.
Have a look at the following poems and match each new end rhyme with a
new letter to discover the rhyme scheme (ignore the titles):
Unfortunate Coincidence
By the time you swear
you're his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.
Dorothy Parker

On the Vanity of Earthly

Greatness
The tusks that clashed in mighty
brawls
Of mastodons, are billiard balls.
The sword of Charlemagne the
just
Is ferric oxide, known as rust.
The grizzly bear whose potent hug
Was feared by all, is now a rug.
Great Caesar's dead and on the
shelf,
And I don't feel so well myself!
Arthur Guiterman

The first poem follows a pattern of ababab while the second follows an
aabbccdd pattern. These rhyming patterns in poems are what we call a
rhyme scheme.
So far, all the examples we have looked at use a full end rhyme, but the
same concept can be applied to poems with partial rhymes. For example,
if we go back to our earlier haiku:
Along the shoreline, -- a
knee-deep in the winter bay, --b
one gray, lone heron. -- a
we can see that it follows an aba pattern. That is, the last word in the
first line partially rhymes with the last word of the third line; the last word

of the second line rhymes with nothing.

Now look at the complete poem below. The rhyme pattern for the first two
stanzas has been done for you (note that since sky half-rhymes with
bay, it too receives a b label.)
Along the shoreline, -- a
knee-deep in the winter bay, -- b
one gray, lone heron. -- a
Not even the sky, -- b
a broad bowl of blue, is still -- c
as the heron's eye. -- b
No movement until - C
the sharp beak darts. Then a flash -D
of silver. That's all. - C
When those broad wings push - D
the curled shape into chilled air E
there's an awful hush. D
On a snag, a pair E
of eagles watch his glide. They, F
too, have eyes that stare. E
When they leave their limbs for prey, F
something dies a mile away. F
If you completed your math correctly, you should have come up with aba
bcb cdc ded efe ff for the rhyme scheme. Poems that consist of three line
stanzas that rhyme in this pattern happen to be called terza rimas (which
literally means three rhymes), though typically terza rimas have longer
lines than the ones in this poem. Because this poem combines the
requirement of the haikus 5-7-5 syllable count with the terza rimas rhyme
scheme, well call it a haiku terza rima. And just as we finish off a tanka
with a two line couplet of 7-7 syllables, we do that here as well. Notice that
both line of the couplet rhyme with the middle line of the last haiku.
Part III Writing the Haiku Terza Rima
Rhyme Sound
A
B
A
B
C

Number of Syllables
5
7
5
5
7

B
C
D
C
D
E
D
E
F
E
F
F

5
5
7
5
5
7
5
5
7
5
7
7

Haiku Terza Rima Assessment Rubric

IDEAS AND CONTENT

5 points

Each haiku stanza contains concrete images

Each haiku stanza should expand upon or logically alter the one preceding it

They may be different yet parallel images in the form of metaphor or simile

The final couplet expresses an emotion, condition, or abstract state of being

ORGANIZATION

Five haiku stanzas followed by a couplet

Rhyme scheme of aba, bcb, cdc, ded, efe, ff

Haiku stanzas should follow the 5, 7, 5 syllable pattern

The couplet stanza should follow the 7, 7 syllable pattern

VOICE, WORD CHOICE, AND SENTENCE FLUENCY

5 points

5 points

Specific descriptive words (especially nouns and verbs) used throughout

Partial rhymes used effectively

CONVENTIONS

Spelling and punctuation are correct (unless for specific effect)

Grammar is correct (unless for specific effect)

5 points

Final copy is neat and professional

20 points total