Robert Frost Poetry: Rhyme Schemes

Rhyme Schemes of Robert Frost’s Poetry Jake Jelsone English 120-08 A rhyme is defined as a verse or poetry having correspondence in the terminal sounds of the lines. One of the best examples of a poet that mastered rhyming beautifully was Robert Frost. Robert Frost was one of the best poets of the twentieth century. He is highly admired for his work about rural life and command for the English language. While many poets like to free verse their poetry, Robert Frost normally does not. One of the main characteristics that contribute to why Robert Frost is such a good poet is his ability to develop rhyme schemes and the sense of rhythm it creates throughout his poetry. One of Robert Frost’s most famous poems, “The Road Not Taken”, has a very clever rhyme scheme that one could easily miss if you don’t look closely (Frost, 1993, p. 1). If you examine the poem thoroughly, you will notice that in each stanza, the last word in the first, third, and fourth lines rhyme with each other, whereas the last word in the second and fifth lines rhyme with each other. This might be hard to see at first glance, since the typical reader is used to words rhyming on the line directly proceeding or following it. The rhyme scheme for the poem is as follows: A,B,A,A,B C,D,C,C,D E,F,E,E,F G,H,G,G,H. This rhyme scheme also creates a sense of rhythm throughout the poem. After line two, the reader tends to find themselves slowing down a little bit, almost as you would at the end of a stanza. The pace then picks up for the next three lines until you finally reach the end of the stanza, and then another break is assumed. This trend continues through the entire poem, and this is due to the expertise of Robert Frost’s ability to control the rhythm throughout the poem with a simple rhyme scheme used. Another one of his poems, “Meeting and Passing”, doesn’t have such a perfect order to the rhyme scheme (Frost, 1993, p. 13).On line one, you may notice the last word “wall” doesn’t rhyme

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