- 1). Select a poem whose rhyme scheme you want to chart. This article will use Shakespeare's "Sonnet 130" as an example.
- 2). Write down the last word of each line in the first stanza.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; - sun
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; - red
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; - dun
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. - head - 3). Assign a letter to words that rhyme.
sun, dun - A
red, head - B - 4). Chart your first stanza by placing the letters in sequence: ABAB.
- 5). Repeat this for subsequent stanzas.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; A
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; B
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; A
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. B
ABAB
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, C
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; D
And in some perfumes is there more delight C
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. D
CDCD
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know E
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; F
I grant I never saw a goddess go; E
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: F
EFEF
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare F
As any she belied with false compare. F
FF
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