The final rhyme is a form of rhymes. In contradistinction to the rule of alliteration, where words are rhymed with the same initial sound, or the inner rhyme, which circumscribes the rhyme in the verse, two or more verses are joined by the harmony of the last syllables. If these rhymes are arranged according to a certain pattern, they are called rhymes. Frequent rhymes are the pair rhymes, cross-rhymes, or even tail-rhymes.
However, the final rhyme describes the connection of two or more verses within a text and does not necessarily have to correspond to a higher-level rhyme scheme. To illustrate this principle, let us look at an example which shows the connection of two successive verses by endreim binding. The example is taken from Heinrich Heine’s Die Wanderratten.
There are two varieties of rats:
The hungry and rich.
These lines are from the first stanza of the poem and are connected by a final rhyme. This means that the last words of the lines are rhyming with each other. In this case, rats and fat. In the example, the rhymes are in successive verses, but of course, such a loop binding is also conceivable over several lines. Let us look at another example.
His gaze is from the passing of the bars
so tired that he does not hold anything.
It is as if there were a thousand bars
and behind a thousand bars no world.
The above example is the first strophe of the poem The Panther by Rainer Maria Rilke, a lyricist of the 20th century. In doing so, the word rods rhyme and exist as well as hold and the world. Since these words are the last syllables of the respective lines, we have to deal with end rhymes in this case as well. In contradistinction to the first example, however, they only find a rhyme pair in the respective next-next verse.
Reimschemata by Endreime
If the individual end rhymes of a poem follow a pattern and thus a structure can be seen in the arrangement of the rhyme pairs, we can speak of a rhyme scheme. Such schemata indicate the final rhymes within a text.
However, such a rhyme scheme is not characterized by different colors, but by different letters. This means that each new pair of rhymes in the text is given a new lowercase letter. The first rhyme thus receives an a, the next a b, the next a c, and so on.
pair rhyme
The rhyming scheme of the pair rhyme is already known in the example above. It describes that two final rhymes appear in successive verses. The final rhyme sequence is aabb (ccdd, eeff, etc.).
There are two varieties of rats:
The hungry and rich.
The rich remain happy to the house,
The hungry but wander out.
cross rhyme
The rhyme schema in the cross-rhymes could already be found in Rilke’s poem. It means that the first end rhyme of a verse rhymes to the third and the second rhymes to the fourth. The cross-rhyme is also referred to as interchange rhyme. The final rhyme sequence in the cross-rhyme is always abab (cdcd, efef, etc.).
His gaze is from the passing of the bars
so tired that he does not hold anything.
It is as if there were a thousand bars
and behind a thousand bars no world.
Articles: Kreuzreim
Embracing rhyme
We find the rhyme schema in the embrace of the rhyme in Goethe’s aphorism. The embracing rhyme is sometimes also called comprehensive rhyme, blockreim, encircling rhyme or embedded rhyme. Nevertheless, it strictly follows the final rhom sequence abba (cddc, effe, etc.). The name goes back to the fact that the outer end rhymes enclose the others, so embrace them.
A pure rhyme is much sought after,
but to have pure thought,
the noblest of all gifts,
that’s all my rhymes.
Specialized articles: Embracing rhyme
pile of rhyme
There is also a clear sequence of the final rhymes in the heap of rhizomes. The final rhythms do not change, but remain the same within a stanza. The final rhymes are thus accumulated and not changeable. In the following example we find the pattern aaaa (bbbb, cccc, etc.).
on the high rocky cliffs
seven seabirds sit
which rub into the ribs
until they tilt from the cliffs
Articles: Haufenreim
Interrupted rhyme
The scheme in the interlaced rhyme can be traced in the work The Kiss in the Dream of Karoline von Günderrode, a German poetess of Romanticism. Here the individual final rhythms are intertwined. The final rhyme sequence is thus abcabc.
The day is barren in love,
It hurts me of his light vain pranks
And consume his sun’s embers.
So let the eye of the sun shine on you!
Enfold yourself in the night, she is styling your desire
And heals the pain, like Lethes cool floods
Articles: Interrupted rhyme
tail-rime
In the Schweifreim there is a pattern which is a combination of the previous rhymes. The first two verses are formed from a pair of rhymes, followed by a hugging rhyme in the following lines. An example can be found in Matthias Claudius, Abendlied. The rhyme scheme is aabccb.
The moon has risen,
the golden stars
in the sky bright and clear;
the forest stands black and silent,
and from the meadows
the white mist wonderful.
Articles: Schweifreim
chain rhyme
At first glance the chain rhymes seem more complicated. Nevertheless, the individual final rhythms follow a very solid pattern. In Goethe’s poem In the grave coffin we find an example which corresponds to the chain rhyme. The final rhyme sequence is aba bcb cdc.
It was in the grave coffin, where I looked
How skull skulls fit arranged;
The old time I thought, the gray.
They stand in rows which otherwise hated,
And rough bones, which were fatal,
They lie crooked, tame to rest.
Entrenched shoulder blades! what they wore
Ask no one more, and gracefully active limbs,
The hand, the foot, scattered from life-joins.
Note: Further information on the various rhymes can be found in the main article (→ Reimschema). Furthermore, the readings can be deepened in the following video and will be clarified and underlined by other examples. The final rhymes are, of course, also presented.
Effect and function of the final rhine
It is difficult to attribute a clear effect to a rhyme. Nevertheless, the final rhyme has an effect on the reading. Especially because rhymes put the verses of a stanza closer together than the metrum does. So now some hints.
Brief overview: meaning, effect and function
As the final rhyme, the binding of two or more verses is called harmony. From the sequence of such final rhymes within a work the rhyme schemata result.
Each rhyme and, above all, final rhymes, put individual words or syllables into a relationship. They can influence not only the rhythm of a work, but also the meaning. This is due to the fact that a loop-binding always brings two or more words into a context, that is to say, relates directly to one another.
Syllables that rhyme also remain better in memory. Therefore, a final rhyme bond is also typical for merks, but also folks and children’s rhymes.