What is Rhyme royal?
'''Rhyme royal''' is a seven-line [[stanza]] with [[rhyme scheme]] a-b-a-b-b-c-c.<ref>{{cite web|title=rhyme royal|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/rhyme-royal|publisher=britannica|access-date=22 October 2016}}</ref> It is also spelled '''Rime royal'''. It is unknown who invented this scheme. [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] introduced the stanza into English [[poetry]] in 14th century. It may have been borrowed from [[Italy|Italian]] or French poetry, but the form became typically English. Chaucer used the form in ''[[Troilus and Criseyde]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=rhyme royal|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/glossary-terms/detail/rhyme-royal-rime-royale|publisher=poetry foundation|access-date=22 October 2016}}</ref> Rhyme royal was popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. Many English and Scottish poets used rhyme royal. It is suitable for long poems. In [[English literature]] rhyme royal is almost always composed of ten-syllable lines with five beats. Outside [[England]] rhyme royal is not as popular. In the United States [[Emma Lazarus]] wrote some poems using ababbcc rhyme-scheme. This stanza comes form her poem ''Sympathy'' (included in ''Epochs''). : ''It comes not in such wise as she had deemed,'' : ''Else might she still have clung to her despair.'' : ''More tender, grateful than she could have dreamed,'' : ''Fond hands passed pitying over brows and hair,'' : ''And gentle words borne softly through the air,'' : ''Calming her weary sense and wildered mind,'' : ''By welcome, dear communion with her kind.'' Poets who wrote rhyme royal frequently were [[William Morris]] and [[John Masefield]]. In 20th century the stanza went out of use. == References == {{reflist}} == Bibliography == * Joseph Berg Esenwein, Mary Eleanor Roberts, ''Art of Versification''. Revised edition. Springfield: 1920. [[Category:Poetry forms]]