What Is the Function of Rhyme in Poetry?
Before read what this, brainstorm some ideas; how do you think rhyme functions in
poetry? What is its’ purpose?
The function of rhyme in poetry is to establish structure while creating a pleasant or even
beautiful symmetry among a poem’s verses. In the ages before the written word, rhyme
also assisted with memorization, a role it still performs today. Not all poems rhyme, and
not all rhymes are poetry; rhyme is also employed in songwriting and advertising copy,
for example. The use of rhyme in poetry, however, is the most common application of
both, learned by most people while they are still children. To many people, in fact, any
rhyme is a poem and vice versa.
Rhyming verse is one of the oldest literary forms, predating the establishment of writing
itself. There is good reason for this: Many primitive cultures used oral, or spoken,
narratives to relay important aspects of their history and culture to younger generations.
Rhyme is a powerful mnemonic, or memory aid, so many of these narratives were put in
rhyming-verse form by bards and poets. Rhyme continued to be used for this function
until relatively recent times, as literacy was not widespread until the 19th and 20th
centuries. The more talented poets could use rhyme in poetry as an asset rather than a
limitation.
Another important function of rhyme in poetry is to create symmetry, a repeated pattern
that often conveys a sense of harmony and beauty to an audience. This can be achieved
even if the rhyme is imperfect and the words sound similar but not exactly alike, such as
“back” and “fact.” This is such an important aspect of poetry that translators of poems in
foreign languages will sometimes take pains to ensure their translations rhyme as well
as the original. This is often done with Dante’s Divine Comedy, for example,
and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, written in an early form of English that bears little
resemblance to the modern language.
The symmetrical and memory-aiding functions of rhyme in poetry mean that they are
often used in other contexts. Verses called nursery rhymes, sometimes containing
archaic or nonsensical words and images, are taught to young children to introduce
important concepts and because the rhymes are easy for children to remember. Popular
songs employ rhyme for the same reasons poems do. Inexpert writers often force their
poems to rhyme, even if the verse suffers as a result. Modern poets sometimes
dispense with rhyme entirely, preferring non-rhyming formats known as blank
verse or free verse.
Annabel Lee
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom
you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no
other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was
more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs
of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long
ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in
Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all
men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the
cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel
Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far
than the love
Of those who were older than
we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven
above
Nor the demons down under the
sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the
soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without
bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel
the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down
by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my
life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the
sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.