Enclosed_rhyme

Enclosed rhyme

Enclosed rhyme

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Enclosed rhyme (or enclosing rhyme) is the rhyme scheme ABBA (that is, where the first and fourth lines, and the second and third lines rhyme). Enclosed-rhyme quatrains are used in introverted quatrains, as in the first two stanzas of Petrarchan sonnets.

Example

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,A
Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!B
My hasting days fly on with full careerB
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.A
(From John Milton: "Sonnet VII")[1]


"Exposure", by Wilfred Owen,[2] also has a good example of enclosed rhyme. Each of the eight stanzas have the ABBA half rhyming sequence:

Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us ...A
Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent ...B
Low, drooping flares confuse our memories of the salient ...B
Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous,A
But nothing happens.

References

  1. [1]
    John Milton, "The poetical works of John Milton, Sonet VII", Project Gutenberg, 1908
  2. [2]
    Wilfred Owen, "Poems by Wilfred Owen, Exposure", Project Gutenberg, 1918

See also
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