Ornate rhythm refers to a highly embellished and intricate rhythmic structure in poetry, characterized by deliberate variations in meter, syncopation, and the interweaving of multiple rhythmic patterns to create a richly textured sonic experience; unlike straightforward or regular meters, ornate rhythm often employs unexpected pauses, accelerations, or shifts in stress to mirror complex emotional or thematic content, as seen in the elaborate prosody of late Victorian or Baroque poets like Richard Crashaw or Gerard Manley Hopkins, whose sprung rhythm exemplifies this ornamental approach to poetic time and cadence.

Ornate rhythm employs complex metrical variations, syncopation, or polyrhythms. Contrast with plain or rising meter. Common in Baroque or high-modernist poetry—scan slowly to uncover layered beats beneath surface flow.