Rhyme Schemes Explained: AABB, ABAB and More

How the letters in AABB, ABAB, ABBA and ABCB map to line endings, with an original annotated stanza for each pattern and a step-by-step method for labelling any stanza.

Updated November 9, 2026

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the ends of a poem's lines, written as a string of letters. Lines that end on the same sound get the same letter, so AABB means the lines rhyme in pairs and ABAB means they rhyme in alternation. This guide explains each common pattern with an original annotated example, then walks through labelling a stanza yourself.

Two pages of a signed, handwritten poem in ink on aged paper, each line ending in a word that rhymes with another line — A handwritten manuscript of a rhymed poem by Florence Earle Coates, published in 1904. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

What a rhyme scheme is and how the letters work

The notation rule, as the Wikipedia article on rhyme scheme puts it, is that “lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.”

That rule is all the notation there is. Start at the first line and call its ending sound A. Every later line that ends on a matching sound is also A. The first line that ends on a new sound becomes B, the next new sound is C, and so on. The letters say nothing about meaning, length or spelling. They only record which line endings match.

Two things trip people up. First, the match is by sound, not spelling: love and move look like a pair but do not rhyme, while night and light do. Second, only the end of the line counts for the scheme, so a rhyme in the middle of a line is not labelled.

Scheme	Which lines rhyme	Also called
AABB	Each pair of neighbouring lines	Couplets
ABAB	Every other line	Alternate rhyme
ABBA	The outer lines, enclosing the inner pair	Enclosed rhyme
ABCB	Only the second and fourth lines	Ballad stanza
AAAA	Every line	Monorhyme

The common patterns, with examples

Each example below is an original stanza written for this page. The rhyming pairs share the same sound from the last stressed vowel onward. The letter at the right of each line is its label.

AABB: couplets

Two lines rhyme, then the next two rhyme on a new sound, and the pair-by-pair pattern usually continues (AA BB CC DD). The rhyme arrives after every second line, so the pattern is quick and easy to hear.

We walked along the shore at nightA
beneath the moon’s pale silver lightA
The waves rolled in across the sandB
and left their foam upon my handB

Night and light share one sound, sand and hand share another, so the label is AABB.

ABAB: alternate rhyme

In ABAB, the first and third lines rhyme and so do the second and fourth. The ear waits one line for each rhyme to return, so the stanza feels more interlocked than a couplet pair.

The morning sun climbs over the hillA
and warms the sleeping townB
The streets are quiet, calm and stillA
as slow, soft rain comes downB

Here hill and still are A, while town and down are B. Notice that lines two and four are shorter than lines one and three. Line length has nothing to do with the scheme; only the end sounds do.

ABBA: enclosed rhyme

The outer lines rhyme with each other and wrap around a rhyming pair in the middle. The first rhyme is left hanging for two lines before the last line answers it.

The lamp burns low, the hour is lateA
I watch the snow begin to fallB
It covers every street and wallB
and leaves the town to sleep and waitA

Late and wait enclose fall and wall. A reader who only skims for neighbouring rhymes would spot the B pair first and might miss that the stanza opens and closes on the same sound.

ABCB: the ballad stanza

In the ballad stanza, the first and third lines end on sounds that match nothing, so they get their own letters (A and C), and only the second and fourth lines share a rhyme.

A fox crossed over the frozen lakeA
and vanished in the snowB
The pines stood silent, dark and tallC
while wind began to blowB

Snow and blow match; lake and tall match nothing, so they are A and C. This is the easiest of the patterns to write, because half the lines are free to end on whatever word says the thing best. The rhyme has to do less work, so it reads as quieter.

AAAA: monorhyme

In monorhyme, every line ends on the same sound. It is demanding, because you need as many rhyming words as you have lines.

The cold light falls across the bayA
The gulls drift out and drift awayA
I watch the boats begin their dayA
and wish the tide would let them stayA

Bay, away, day and stay all end on the same vowel sound, so all four lines are A. Note that away counts because its stress falls on the last syllable, which matches the one-syllable words.

How to label a stanza, step by step

Here is an unlabelled stanza. Work through it with the steps below.

The lamplight fades beneath the moon?
I hurry down the empty street?
The morning will be here too soon?
and rain is falling on my feet?

Write down only the last word of each line. Here: moon, street, soon, feet. Ignore punctuation, and ignore any rhymes inside the lines.
Say each word aloud and listen to its ending. Rhyme starts at the last stressed vowel and runs to the end of the word, so check where the stress falls. Moon and soon both end in “oon”; street and feet both end in “eet”. If you are unsure, the rhyme checker compares two words by pronunciation.
Give the first word the letter A. Moon is A.
Move down the list. If a word rhymes with an earlier one, reuse that letter. If it matches nothing so far, use the next unused letter. Street matches nothing yet, so it is B. Soon rhymes with moon, so it is A. Feet rhymes with street, so it is B.
Read the letters together and name the pattern. A, B, A, B is ABAB, alternate rhyme.

For a longer poem, label stanza by stanza. Keep the letters running when the sounds are new (ABAB CDCD), and reuse a letter when a sound comes back (ABAB ABAB). A repeated refrain word keeps its original letter. Mark a line that rhymes with nothing and is not part of the pattern with X.

Spelling is the usual source of mistakes. Love and move end in the same letters, but the dictionary gives love a short “uh” vowel and move an “oo” vowel, so they do not rhyme. Words like that are called eye rhymes, and for a scheme they get different letters. The reverse also happens: blue and through look nothing alike and rhyme perfectly.

The other judgement call is a near rhyme, such as time and mine, where the vowel matches but the final consonant does not. For a first pass, give near rhymes their own letter: in a stanza ending time, mine, crime, line, the labels are A B A B, because time and mine do not match. If you are analysing a poet who clearly treats them as rhymes, use the same letter and say so. Our guide to perfect rhyme versus slant rhyme explains the difference, and the slant rhyme finder lists near matches. Once you have worked a few stanzas by hand, the rhyme scheme checker does the same job for longer poems.

Choosing a scheme for your own writing

The patterns differ in how soon the listener hears the rhyme and how many lines are forced to end on a rhyming word. That suggests a rough rule of thumb, offered here as editorial judgement rather than a fixed law:

For a quick, bouncy feel, or a first attempt, use couplets (AABB).
For a steadier, more connected stanza, use alternate rhyme (ABAB).
To hold back the resolution until the last line, use enclosed rhyme (ABBA).
For a looser, story-telling feel where meaning matters more than sound, use the ballad stanza (ABCB).

A practical way to write any of them is to pick the end words first. Decide the pattern, then choose the rhyming pairs it needs and build each line towards its end word. The rhyme generator lets you pick a scheme and enter your end words to get matching rhymes, and the rhyme finder groups rhymes by syllable count so the lines stay a similar length.

Rhyme is also a choice, not a requirement. Whether a poem needs to rhyme at all depends on the tradition and the effect you want, and the types of rhymes guide covers rhymes beyond line endings.