What is the pattern of rhyming lines called?

• A. Meter
• B. Rhyme scheme
• C. Rhythm
• D. Cadence

Answer: (B)

Rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes in a poem. To see it, look at the last word of each line and notice which lines rhyme with each other. When the same rhymes recur in a sequence, you describe that pattern. For example, if the first and third lines rhyme with each other and the second and fourth lines rhyme with each other, that’s an alternating rhyme pattern. That pattern is the rhyme scheme of the stanza or poem.

This concept is about the arrangement of end sounds, not the rhythm of syllables (meter), the overall beat or flow (rhythm), or the natural rise and fall of voice at line endings (cadence). Some poems may not end with rhymes at all, in which case there isn’t a rhyme scheme to describe.