Enclosed rhyme

Enclosed rhyme (or enclosing rhyme) is the rhyme scheme ABBA (that is, where the first and fourth lines, and the second and third lines rhyme). Enclosed-rhyme quatrains are used in introverted quatrains, as in the first two stanzas of Petrarchan sonnets. ^[1]

Example

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,		${\displaystyle \mathrm {A} }$
Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!		${\displaystyle \mathrm {B} }$
My hasting days fly on with full career		${\displaystyle \mathrm {B} }$
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.		${\displaystyle \mathrm {A} }$

(From John Milton: "Sonnet VII") ^[2]

"Exposure", by Wilfred Owen, ^[3] also has an example of enclosed rhyme. Each of the eight stanzas have the ABBA half rhyming sequence:

Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us ...		${\displaystyle \mathrm {A} }$
Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent ...		${\displaystyle \mathrm {B} }$
Low, drooping flares confuse our memories of the salient ...		${\displaystyle \mathrm {B} }$
Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous,		${\displaystyle \mathrm {A} }$
But nothing happens.

References

1. "Rhyme". The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
2. John Milton, "The poetical works of John Milton, Sonet VII", Project Gutenberg, 1908
3. Wilfred Owen, "Poems by Wilfred Owen, Exposure", Project Gutenberg, 1918

See also

• Rhyme scheme