rhyme scheme

the pattern of rhymes used in a poem, usually marked by letters to symbolize correspondences, as rhyme royal, ababbcc.

Origin of rhyme scheme

First recorded in 1930–35

First variant: There is no verso libre, and the rhyme-scheme is a b b c a d d c.

Legends, Tales and Poems |Gustavo Adolfo Becquer
The rhyme-scheme is called a couplet, because of the way in which two lines are linked together.

Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools |Various
Dcimas are strophes of ten octosyllabic verses with the rhyme-scheme a b b a a c c d d c.

Legends, Tales and Poems |Gustavo Adolfo Becquer
But here the rhyme-scheme provides a sort of unpardonable excuse.

Browning's Heroines |Ethel Colburn Mayne

The even verses are usually in assonance, although the verses may have the rhyme-scheme a b a b.

Legends, Tales and Poems |Gustavo Adolfo Becquer