Rhyme

Rhyming is one of the key elements of versification. It is characterized by repetition of the same sound at the end of the verses. Rhyming is frequently associated with poetry, although it is not limited to it or compulsory. Rhymes are either "masculine" or "feminine". A rhyme is feminine when it finishes with a mute "e", while all other cases are referred to as masculine.

Disposition is another characteristic of rhymes. Rhymes may be either "flat" (aabb), "alternating" (abab), "introverted" (abba) or "repeated" (aaa). They may be equally defined according to their quality: "poor" rhymes only have one "phoneme" (without a consonant after the vowel), "sufficient" rhymes have two (a consonant after the vowel), while "rich" rhymes have three or more phonemes. Rhyming is less used in poetry today, especially with the arrival of free verse and attacks by the Surrealists.