Enclosed rhyme

Enclosed rhyme (or enclosing rhyme) is the rhyme scheme "abba" (that is, where the first and fourth lines, and the second and third lines rhyme). Enclosed-rhyme quatrains are used in introverted quatrains, as in the first two stanzas of Petrarchan sonnets.

Examples

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, A

Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year! B

My hasting days fly on with full career, B

But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th. A

(From John Milton's "On His Being Arrived to the Age of Twenty-Three")

Telling me again where I went wrong,

Just listen to the laughter of the falling rain -

When everyone knows now, in vain,

That it was the rain’s fault all along.

Rainfall, you're no friend of mine.

Where were you when she was storming out?

When I was pleading and trying not to shout?

For you and me now, it’s the end of the line.

You made silly puddles and watched as my girl left town

You just watched, and with all your power

You didn’t pelt, pour, or shower,

You didn’t even drizzle down.

Surely there was something you could have done?

If you’d poured from the sky

She wouldn't have left me, but you just didn't try:

But you didn't do nothing, you let her walk on.

Sidney Beck's Guilty Raindrops

See also

• Rhyme scheme