Internal rhyme

Internal rhyme occurs when rhyming words appear within the same poetic line, rather than only at line endings. It can add rhythm, emphasis, and sonic patterning.

Rhyme: A correspondence of sounds, usually between words, that creates a pattern in verse or speech. Internal rhyme is one placement-based form of rhyme.
Masculine rhyme: A rhyme between words whose final syllables are stressed. A stressed internal rhyme can create a sharp rhythmic accent before the line ends.
The Raven: Edgar Allan Poe’s 1845 narrative poem about a grieving speaker visited by a raven. Poe repeatedly places rhyming words within lines as well as at their ends.
Ballad: A narrative poem or song, often organized into stanzas with a recurring meter and rhyme scheme. Ballad rhythms often make internal rhyme especially audible.
Euphony and cacophony: Terms for pleasing or harsh combinations of sounds in language. The closeness of internal rhymes can make a line feel smooth or insistently crowded.
Perfect rhyme: A rhyme in which stressed vowel sounds and all following sounds match, while preceding sounds differ. Many internal rhymes use this exact sound match.
Feminine rhyme: A rhyme between words ending in a stressed syllable followed by one or more unstressed syllables. Its extra unstressed syllables let an internal rhyme continue beyond the main beat.
Annabel Lee: Edgar Allan Poe’s 1849 poem about a speaker’s enduring love for Annabel Lee. Its internal rhymes reinforce the poem’s songlike cadence.
Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words. Poets may combine repeated beginnings with internal rhyme to layer sound patterns.
Oral poetry: Poetry composed, transmitted, or performed primarily through spoken rather than written forms. Repeated sounds help internal rhyme support performance and verbal recall.

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