One of the most common forms of rhyme scheme found in poetry around the world, ABAB rhyme schemes serve many different purposes depending on the poem and its context. They can be used in individual stanzas, or as a rhyme scheme throughout an entire poem.
ABAB Rhyme Scheme ABAB Rhyme Scheme
What is an ABAB Rhyme Scheme?
An ABAB rhyme scheme refers to a set of four lines in which the first and third lines end with words that rhyme with one another, while lines two and four also end with words that rhyme with one another.
The reason it is called an ABAB rhyme scheme is because each of those four letters corresponds to one of the four lines in the rhyming pattern. The A lines share the same letter because they rhyme with one another just as the B lines share a rhyme. That means lines marked with a capital letter will never rhyme with a line that has a different letter. For instance, a poem with an ABCD rhyme scheme is actually a poem without one, because none of those lines end with a word that rhymes with any other.
It is important to remember that rhyme schemes like this one can apply to entire poems or just to individual stanzas. ABAB rhyme schemes are also referred to as alternating rhymes, because of the fact that the lines alternate between one rhyming pattern and another.
ABAB Examples in Poetry
A Dirge Without Music by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave A
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; B
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. A
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned. B
As you can see, the final words of lines one and three (grave & brave) rhyme with one another, making them both A rhymes. Likewise, the final words of lines two and four (kind & resigned) also rhyme, making them B. Remember that whether or not a word rhymes is determined by the sound of the word, not the spelling.
Explore more Edna St. Vincent Millay poems.
The Brook by Alfred Lord Tennyson
I come from haunts of coot and hern, A
I make a sudden sally B
And sparkle out among the fern, A
To bicker down a valley. B
Once again, this poem employs an ABAB rhyme scheme across its first stanza.
Discover more Alfred Lord Tennyson poems.
Common Effects of ABAB
ABAB rhyme schemes can be used to achieve many different effects, often depending on the content of the poem in which they are used. Here are some general interpretations that can commonly be applied to this rhyme scheme.
- When a poem is written with an ABAB rhyme scheme, it can evoke a sense of certainty because it can appear extremely unwavering.
- ABAB rhyme schemes are simple and easy to follow, making them popular choices in children’s poems or nursery rhymes. They have thus become associated with innocence over time.
- ABAB rhyme schemes are often used to evoke a sense of conflict or competition because the alternating rhymes create a sense of challenge within the poem.
Specific Effects of ABAB
London by William Blake
I wander thro’ each charter’d street, A
Near where the charter’d Thames does flow. B
And mark in every face I meet A
Marks of weakness, marks of woe. B
Blake uses the ABAB rhyme scheme to evoke the movement of his narrator’s footsteps as he moves through the city of London. This is important because it reminds the reader that the poverty observed by Blake’s narrator was not limited to any single part of the city. The rhyme scheme also serves to emphasize the conflict between the rich and poor of the city, whose lives are virtually unrecognizable to one another despite occupying the same space.
Explore more William Blake Poems.
Invictus by William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me, A
Black as the pit from pole to pole, B
I thank whatever gods may be A
For my unconquerable soul. B
This poem’s use of an ABAB rhyme scheme is used to imbue the text with a relentless sense of purpose and confidence. Henley did so to imply the speaker in the poem also had these qualities. The poem’s central message pertains to self-confidence and an unwavering belief in the speaker’s ability to overcome his circumstances, regardless of how many obstacles were put in his way.
Explore more William Ernest Henley poems.
Sea Fevers by Agnes Wathall
This, the most famous of Wathall’s verses, is a fantastic example of a standard alternate rhyme scheme. The poem uses a consistent pattern of ABAB throughout. This rhyme scheme is particularly effective in this poem due to its subject matter.
The poet discusses the ocean, albatrosses, the sky, the moment of the water, and more. The “tossing” movement of the ship is mimicked by the ABAB rhyme scheme. It moves the reader back and forth from one sound to the next as though they, too, are on the water.
Here are the first four lines:
No ancient mariner I, A
Hawker of public crosses, B
Snaring the passersby A
With my necklace of albatrosses. B
The poet rhymes the words “I” and “passerby” in lines one and three and “crosses” and “albatrosses” in this stanza. Amazingly, the poet chose to use the same exact end sounds throughout the rest of the poem (something that’s quite uncommon). The next stanza rhymes with “eye” and “ply” in lines one and three and “mosses” and “glosses” in lines two and four. Finally, stanza three uses “sky” and “lie” (maintaining the same vowel sound from stanza one) and “losses” and “tosses” (using the same examples of sibilance).
Explore Agnes Wathall’s poetry.
Other Poems with ABAB Rhyme Schemes
- ‘Friends‘ by Abbie Farwell Brown
- ‘A Psalm of Life‘ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- ‘A Nation’s Strength‘ by Ralph Waldo Emerson
- ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard‘ by Thomas Gray
FAQs
The ABAB rhymes theme is an example of a popular rhyme scheme known as an alternate rhyme. It’s been used throughout the history of poetry. It can be seen as the solitary pattern of a poem and as a part of a longer rhyme scheme (like a Shakespearean sonnet).
A four-line stanza, or a four-line poem, is known as a quatrain. This stanza length is incredibly popular. It allows writers enough space to create a unique rhyme scheme (or utilize a popular one like the alternate rhyme scheme) or employ a clear metrical pattern.
The ABAB rhyme scheme is known as an alternate rhyme or an interlocking rhyme. This refers to the way that the first end sound is surrounded by a different end sound on both sides.
Related Literary Terms
- Quatrain: A verse form that is made up of four lines with fifteen different possible rhyme schemes.
- Ballad: A ballad is a kind of verse, sometimes narrative in nature, often set to music and developed from 14th and 15th-century minstrelsy.
- Iambic Pentameter: A very common way that lines of poetry are structured. Each line has five sets of two beats, the first is unstressed and the second is stressed.
- Spenserian Sonnet: The Spenserian sonnet was invented by the famous sixteenth-century poet Edmund Spenser and uses a rhyme scheme of ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.
