A rhyme scheme is a plan of rhyme patterns within a piece of poetry: The scheme may run AA, BB, AA, BB, etc., or ABC, ABC etc. Complex schemes may operate as compound rhyme patterns, for example AAA BBB, CCC, with different rhymes in each line. Some rhyme schemes may be affected by form, like quatrains, in which the four line form is planned with rhymes for each of the lines.
Examples of Rhyme Scheme:
|Simple AA rhyme: Jack and Jill/ Went up the hill|
AABB CCB: Little Miss Muffet/sat on a tuffet/ eating her curds and whey. Down came a spider/And sat down beside her/And frightened Miss Muffet away