Poetic Terms Dictionary
Sound Device

Internal Rhyme

Common in ballads, hymns, and song. Poe exploited it systematically in 'The Raven' to create obsessive musical density.

Definition

Rhyme occurring within a single line of verse, between a word in the line's interior and the final word, or between two interior words.

Example

'The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew' (Coleridge) — 'blew' and 'flew' rhyme internally.

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