In my current contest, The Pirouette, I am calling on specific rhyme schemes to be used, namely, remote rhyme using one type of initial rhyme together with the linked rhyme in the pirouette leg of the poem. I gave contestants detailed instructions as to how to write The Pirouette, without naming the actual rhyme schemes employed.
DEFINITIONS —1st up is AI (MS Copilot) then MINE (verified):
Remote Rhyme
Definition: Remote rhyme refers to rhyming words that are separated by significant distance within a poem—often across stanzas or lines that are not adjacent. Unlike end rhyme or internal rhyme, remote rhyme creates a subtle echo effect, linking disparate parts of the poem and contributing to its overall cohesion or thematic resonance.
Example: In stanza one: “The sky was pale with morning light” In stanza four: “She vanished softly into night” Here, “light” and “night” rhyme remotely, creating a delayed auditory connection.
MINE: Remote rhyme is a rhyme that connects non-adjacent lines or syllables. Examples of remote rhyme can be found in the pantoum, and also tail-rhyme where the shorter ‘tails’ rhyme and are preceded by rhyming couplets or tercets.
Initial Rhyme
Initial rhyme focuses on the beginning sounds of words, and it can manifest in several ways:
- Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds, eg, “Silent shadows slide”
- Assonance (initial): Repetition of initial vowel sounds, eg, “Echoes erupt endlessly”
- Consonance (initial): Repetition of consonant sounds at the start or within words, eg, “Grim ghosts gather”
- Head rhyme: A broader term often used interchangeably with alliteration, eg, “Bold birds burst”
MINE: Initial rhyme (also called head rhyme) is a rhyme in which the rhyme occurs as the first word or syllable (the onset) of the line, for example, wrung/sung—they do not necessarily have to be alliterating such as stung/swung. So stung/swung is both alliterative and an initial rhyme, but wrung/sung is an initial rhyme without alliteration. Initial rhyme is the mirror image of end rhyme where the rhyme falls on the final stressed syllable. Initial rhyme may be incorporated in trochaic metre (stressed-unstressed) verse.
It is worth noting that alliteration is also known as initial rhyme or head rhyme to distinguish it from end rhyme/terminal rhyme.
WHY AI might miss this kind of rhyme, it’s because most models are trained to prioritise semantic coherence and common rhyme schemes—initial rhyme requires a more phonological sensitivity that’s not always baked into text-based training data.
Linked Rhyme
Linked rhyme is a more intricate structure where the rhyme is formed by the end of one line and the beginning of the next line, together rhyming with another line’s ending. It’s a kind of interlaced rhyme that binds lines together in a chain-like fashion.
Example: Line A: “She danced beneath the moon’s pale glow” Line B: “Glow of dreams that softly flow” Line C: “Flow into the silent snow” Here, “glow” and “flow” are linked across lines, and “snow” continues the rhyme chain. [My evaluation: This is an example of Chain verse – something often confused with Linked rhyme.]
MINE: Linked rhyme is a variation of initial rhyme. Linked rhyme is where the last word rhymes with the first word in the next line—it is NOT a Chain Verse. The words don’t have to be of equal stress, for example, wine and mine, where the first is stressed, and the last unstressed per its meaning.
Addressing the blurring of lines between Linked rhyme & Chain verse by AI:
MINE: Chain verse is a descendant of Ancient Greek echo verse, where the last word or syllable of one line is repeated at the beginning of the next. It’s more about repetition than rhyme, and was historically used in oral traditions—especially in medieval France—to convey news or stories with rhythmic appeal.
Key Features:
- Repetition of words/syllables from line end to line start.
- Often used in spoken-word or mnemonic verse.
- Can be stanzaic or line-by-line.
- Sometimes confused with interlocking rhyme schemes like terza rima.
WHY the confusion:
AI tends to conflate linked rhyme with chain verse because of how it learns language—through pattern recognition across vast, often inconsistent datasets. Here's a breakdown of why this mix-up happens:
Both forms involve a connection between the end of one line and the beginning of the next. To an AI trained on surface-level textual patterns, this resemblance can blur the distinction. Since both create inter-line linkage, AI may lump them together under a broader ‘linked structure’ category.
Rhyme—Now You Hear It, Now You Don’t
Words like rat, bat, cat, and sat are classic examples of perfect rhyme—also known as true rhyme or strong rhyme—where both the stressed vowel sound and any following consonants match precisely.
But what about rat and brat? Though they sound nearly identical, they fall into the category of identical rhyme, where the rhyme is so exact it’s sometimes dismissed as lacking poetic finesse. Some purists argue that identical rhymes don’t qualify as “perfect” because they repeat the same sound too closely, offering less creative variation.
Then there are the linguistic landmines that even seasoned poets might stumble over: trip, tripped, tripping. Despite sharing a root, these forms do not rhyme—not even as slant rhymes—because the stressed syllable shifts with the addition of suffixes, altering the sound pattern entirely.
Ah, homographs—the mischievous shape-shifters of the English language. Tear up is a perfect example of their trickery:
- Tear up (verb): to rip something apart.
- Tear up (verb): to begin crying, as in tears welling up.
Same spelling, totally different meanings—and sometimes even different pronunciations. It’s like the word itself is playing a prank on you. They’re the linguistic equivalent of a wink and a nudge—always keeping us on our toes.
Cartoons by Tyson Cole, dd 15 September 2025
Conclusion
Poets are well advised to squirrel away these titbits of information regarding rhyme schemes for future use. As I have repeatedly said: There is only one way to beat AI at its own game, and that is to become a better poet than it.
Therefore, in my contest, The Pirouette, please follow my instructions and my example poem, and not rely on AI as it will lead you up the garden path—just like the photoshopped picture adorning the contest prompt. Please note that I am calling for whet or wry poems and not a description of the picture which serves as an inspiration. My example poem, What a Pair?,* is wry in its content. You have little under 2 weeks left to tweak your poem submitted or to write for this contest. I am looking forward to innovative poetry.
Rhyme is fluid and before someone feels inspired to immortalise me in a sonnet as ‘the trembling soul beneath the arch of liquid grace’ I will gracefully bow out—each poem and its rhyme is judged on merit.
Take wing!
THE PIROUETTE—When East meets West: a marriage of Chinese and Western poetry styles | PoetrySoup.com