What Is a Rhyme Scheme? AABB, ABAB and Sonnet Examples
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes in a poem or song, labeled with letters like AABB or ABAB. See examples, sonnet patterns and song tips.
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines in a poem or song, written with letters. Every new end sound gets the next letter (A, B, C…), and lines that rhyme share a letter, so a four-line stanza where lines 1 and 2 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme is AABB. The most common patterns are AABB, ABAB, ABCB and the sonnet forms, and each one changes how a poem or lyric feels.
What is a rhyme scheme? (Definition and meaning)
A rhyme scheme is a map of which lines rhyme with which, usually within one stanza or verse. It describes end rhymes, the last stressed sounds of each line, not rhymes inside a line. Poets, songwriters and English teachers use it as shorthand to talk about structure without quoting the whole text.
The pattern matters because rhyme sets up expectations. When a listener hears a line end on “night,” part of their brain waits for “light” or “right.” A rhyme scheme decides how soon that payoff arrives, which is why AABB feels bouncy and ABAB feels more like a conversation.
In short, the meaning comes down to three things:
- Which lines rhyme (shown by matching letters)
- How far apart the rhymes are (next line, or two lines later)
- Whether the pattern repeats across stanzas or changes
How do you label a rhyme scheme with letters?
Give the first line’s ending sound the letter A, then give each new ending sound the next letter. Any line that rhymes with an earlier line reuses that line’s letter. You go by sound, not spelling.
- Read each line aloud and note the last stressed syllable.
- Write A next to line 1.
- For each next line, ask: does it rhyme with any line above? If yes, reuse that letter. If no, use the next unused letter.
- Group the letters by stanza, with a space between stanzas (for example, ABAB CDCD).
- Mark unrhymed lines with their own letter, or with an X if you want to show they never rhyme.
Here’s an original example to practice on:
I left the porch light on for you (A)The kettle’s cold, the clock is slow (B)I know the road is long, it’s true (A)But I still wait, I won’t let go (B)
“You” and “true” share a sound, and “slow” and “go” share a sound, so the scheme is ABAB.
What is the AABB rhyme scheme?
AABB is a rhyme scheme where lines rhyme in back-to-back pairs: lines 1 and 2 rhyme, then lines 3 and 4 rhyme with a new sound. Each rhyming pair is called a couplet. It is the simplest and most predictable pattern, which is why it shows up in nursery rhymes, children’s books, greeting cards and a lot of pop choruses.
The classic example is the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, (A)How I wonder what you are! (A)Up above the world so high, (B)Like a diamond in the sky. (B)
William Blake’s “The Tyger” (1794) uses AABB too: “Tyger Tyger, burning bright, / In the forests of the night; / What immortal hand or eye, / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” The second pair is a slant rhyme (eye/symmetry), which shows that AABB doesn’t require perfect rhymes.
Why use AABB: the payoff comes immediately, so it is easy to memorize and sing along to. The trade-off: over a long piece it can sound sing-song or childish, and every line pair has to land a rhyme, which can push you into forced word choices.
What is the ABAB rhyme scheme?
ABAB is an alternating rhyme scheme: line 1 rhymes with line 3, and line 2 rhymes with line 4. It is also called alternate rhyme or cross rhyme. Because each rhyme waits a line before landing, it feels more flowing and less predictable than AABB.
Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1751) is a textbook ABAB example:
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, (A)The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea, (B)The plowman homeward plods his weary way, (A)And leaves the world to darkness and to me. (B)
ABAB is the building block of the Shakespearean sonnet, and it is very common in hymns, folk songs and song verses. The trade-off: you need two rhymes per stanza instead of one per pair, and listeners may miss the pattern if the lines are long or sung fast.
What is the sonnet rhyme scheme?
A sonnet is a 14-line poem, and its rhyme scheme depends on the type. The Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, the Petrarchan sonnet is ABBAABBA followed by CDECDE or CDCDCD, and the Spenserian sonnet is ABAB BCBC CDCD EE. Most sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, ten syllables per line in a da-DUM rhythm.
Shakespearean sonnet rhyme scheme
The Shakespearean (or English) sonnet has three four-line quatrains in ABAB form, each with new rhymes, and a closing rhyming couplet. The couplet usually delivers a twist or summary. Sonnet 18 opens like this:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (A)Thou art more lovely and more temperate: (B)Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (A)And summer’s lease hath all too short a date; (B)
It ends with the GG couplet: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” That final pair works a lot like a song’s last chorus, a short, memorable line that sums up everything before it.
Petrarchan and Spenserian sonnets
The Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet splits into an eight-line octave (ABBAABBA) that sets up a problem and a six-line sestet that answers it. The shift between them is called the volta, or turn. Because it reuses only two rhymes across eight lines, it is harder to write in English, which has fewer rhyming words than Italian.
The Spenserian sonnet, named for Edmund Spenser, links its quatrains by carrying a rhyme from one into the next (ABAB BCBC CDCD EE). It feels more woven together but asks for more matching words.
What are the most common rhyme schemes? (Examples table)
Beyond AABB, ABAB and sonnets, a handful of patterns cover most poems and songs. Here they are side by side.
| Scheme | Name | How it works | Where you’ll see it | Feel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AABB | Couplet rhyme | Pairs of lines rhyme | Nursery rhymes, kids’ books, pop choruses | Bouncy, predictable |
| ABAB | Alternate rhyme | Lines 1 and 3, 2 and 4 rhyme | Hymns, Shakespearean sonnets, song verses | Flowing, balanced |
| ABCB | Ballad rhyme | Only lines 2 and 4 rhyme | Ballads, folk, country, many song verses | Relaxed, conversational |
| ABBA | Enclosed rhyme | Outer lines rhyme, inner lines rhyme | Petrarchan sonnets, Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” | Circular, reflective |
| AABA | Rubaiyat stanza | Three lines rhyme, line 3 doesn’t | FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát, Frost | Steady with a pull forward |
| AABBA | Limerick | Long A lines, short B lines | Comic verse | Jokey, punchline-driven |
| ABA BCB CDC | Terza rima | Middle line sets the next stanza’s rhyme | Dante, Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” | Chained, moving |
| AAAA | Monorhyme | Every line uses one rhyme | Hooks, chants, some rap choruses | Hypnotic, intense |
Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1923) shows AABA with a twist. The first stanza runs know/though/here/snow, and the unrhymed “here” becomes the rhyme for the next stanza, chaining the poem together:
Whose woods these are I think I know. (A)His house is in the village though; (A)He will not see me stopping here (B)To watch his woods fill up with snow. (A)
Edward Lear’s limericks show AABBA clearly: “There was an Old Man with a beard, / Who said, ‘It is just as I feared!— / Two Owls and a Hen, / Four Larks and a Wren, / Have all built their nests in my beard!’”
Free verse has no fixed rhyme scheme at all. That isn’t a lack of skill; it is a choice to let rhythm, imagery and line breaks do the work instead.
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Make a song freeWhat counts as a rhyme when you map a scheme?
Two words rhyme when their last stressed vowel and everything after it sound the same, like “fire” and “higher.” In practice, poets and especially songwriters count looser matches too. How strict you are changes the letters you assign.
| Type | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect rhyme | light / night | Same vowel and ending sound |
| Slant (near) rhyme | home / alone | Close but not exact; very common in songs |
| Eye rhyme | love / move | Looks like a rhyme, sounds different |
| Multisyllabic rhyme | broken record / open letter | Several syllables match; a rap staple |
| Internal rhyme | “I drift and lift and shift” | Rhymes inside a line; not shown in the letter scheme |
| Identical rhyme | night / night | Same word repeated; often a refrain |
When you label a song, it is normal to count slant rhymes as matches. Sung vowels stretch and blend, so “time” and “mine” land as a rhyme even though the consonants differ.
How do rhyme schemes work in song lyrics?
Songs use the same patterns as poems, but they are looser and change from section to section. A typical pop, country or rock song uses ABCB or ABAB in the verses and a tighter AABB or AAAA in the chorus. The shift in pattern helps the ear notice that the chorus has arrived.
A few things are different when lyrics are sung:
- Slant rhymes are the norm. Melody covers small mismatches, so you have more word choices.
- ABCB gives you freedom. Only two lines need to rhyme, so verses can tell a story in natural language. That is why it dominates folk and country.
- Choruses rhyme harder. Repetition and tight rhyme make a hook stick. Our guide on how to write a chorus covers hook placement and length.
- Rap stacks rhymes. Hip-hop verses often run AAAA couplets for four or eight bars, with multisyllabic and internal rhymes layered on top.
- Line length follows the beat. Rhymes usually land on strong beats, often at the end of every second or fourth bar.
Here is an original verse-to-chorus example showing the switch:
Verse (ABCB):Got a box of your old letters (A)Underneath the bathroom sink (B)Every summer I mean to burn them (C)Every summer I just drink (B)Chorus (AABB):Oh, I can’t let go (A)Even though I know (A)You won’t call tonight (B)So I leave on the light (B)
The verse feels like talking; the chorus snaps into place. That contrast does as much work as a chord change. If you want to match the harmony to it, see our guide to common and sad chord progressions.
How do you choose a rhyme scheme for your own song or poem?
Pick the scheme that matches the mood and how much you need to say. Tight schemes (AABB, AAAA) feel catchy and playful, while looser ones (ABCB, free verse) leave room for detail and sound more natural. Then check that the rhymes don’t bend your meaning.
- Decide the job of the section. Storytelling verse: try ABCB. Hook or chorus: try AABB or AAAA. Formal poem or vow: try ABAB or a sonnet.
- Write the key line first. Put your most important line at the end of the stanza, where the rhyme lands hardest.
- Brainstorm rhyme families. List perfect and slant rhymes for your key word before drafting the other lines.
- Read it aloud or sing it. If a line only exists to make a rhyme, rewrite it or loosen the scheme.
- Stay consistent within a section. Matching schemes across verses makes the song feel built on purpose, even if the chorus uses a different one.
Some quick genre starting points (rules of thumb, not requirements):
- Country and folk: ABCB or ABAB verses with clear storytelling; try lyrics in an AI country song generator to hear the phrasing.
- Pop: ABAB verses, AABB chorus.
- Hip-hop: AAAA couplets with internal and multisyllabic rhyme; an AI rap generator lets you test how dense rhymes sound over a beat.
- Birthday, love or gift songs: AABB keeps it easy to sing along to.
Can you turn a rhyming poem into a song?
Yes. A poem with a steady rhyme scheme and meter is often easy to set to music, because the rhymes already mark where phrases end. AABB and ABAB poems map neatly onto four-bar musical phrases, and a sonnet’s closing couplet can become a final tag line.
To hear it quickly, you can paste your own lyrics into a tool that turns lyrics into a sung song. Remixy makes complete songs, with vocals, instruments and lyrics, from a text description or your own words, and new accounts get 150 free starter credits (about 3 songs) with no card needed. For writing better style descriptions, see our tips on AI music generators from text.
A note on rights: the free plan is for non-commercial use and streams songs only, while paid plans add a full commercial license and MP3 downloads (see plans and what each includes). If you set someone else’s poem to music, the poem’s own copyright still matters. Works published long ago, like the Shakespeare, Gray, Blake and Lear examples above, are generally in the public domain, but terms differ by country; check the U.S. Copyright Office’s guidance on copyright duration or the Canadian Intellectual Property Office copyright page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is a rhyme scheme in simple terms?+
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of which lines rhyme in a poem or song, written with letters. Lines that rhyme get the same letter, so AABB means two rhyming pairs and ABAB means alternating rhymes.
What is the AABB rhyme scheme?+
AABB is a pattern where lines rhyme in consecutive pairs, called couplets: lines 1 and 2 rhyme, then lines 3 and 4 rhyme on a new sound. “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is a well-known example.
What is the ABAB rhyme scheme?+
ABAB is alternate rhyme: line 1 rhymes with line 3 and line 2 rhymes with line 4. Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” and the quatrains of Shakespearean sonnets use it.
What is the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet?+
A Shakespearean sonnet rhymes ABAB CDCD EFEF GG: three alternating quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet. It has 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter.
Do song lyrics need a strict rhyme scheme?+
No. Most songs use loose schemes like ABCB in verses and tighter AABB in choruses, and they rely heavily on slant rhymes. Consistency within each section matters more than perfect rhymes.
Does free verse have a rhyme scheme?+
Free verse has no fixed rhyme scheme or meter. It may use occasional rhymes, but rhythm, imagery and line breaks carry the structure instead.
How do you find the rhyme scheme of a poem?+
Read each line aloud, label the first ending sound A, and give each new ending sound the next letter. Reuse a letter whenever a line rhymes with an earlier one, judging by sound rather than spelling.
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Remixy TeamWe build Remixy, an AI music studio that turns a text idea or your own lyrics into a finished song. We write about songwriting, music production and making music with AI — what works, what doesn't, and how to get a result you're proud of.
