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Ababa rhyme

Rhyme
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A rhyme scheme where the first, third, and fifth lines rhyme, and the second and fourth lines rhyme

Detailed Definition
Ababa rhyme is a quintain (five-line) stanzaic rhyme scheme following the pattern A-B-A-B-A, commonly found in Persian and Arabic poetic traditions like the qasida and later adapted in English poetry; it creates a musical symmetry by alternating rhymes and returning to the initial rhyme at the stanza’s close, as seen in some of Tennyson’s lyrical experiments.
Example
Example in poetry:
In "To a Skylark," Shelley uses ababa rhyme to mirror the bird’s erratic flight; Frost’s "Acquainted with the Night" employs ababa to echo urban isolation; Traditional Persian ghazals often adapt ababa for lyrical introspection; Auden’s "Lullaby" subtly shifts ababa to convey emotional instability; The ababa scheme in Keats’s "Ode to a Nightingale" enhances meditative flow.
Additional Notes
Often called "envelope rhyme" when used in quatrains (ABAB). Common in ballads and hymns. Creates a more interlocking structure than couplets (AABB) and feels less complete than enclosed rhyme (ABBA). See also: cross rhyme.
Also Known As
Interlocking Rhyme Chain Rhyme Enclosed Alternating Scheme Terza Rima Variant
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