Chapter XIX: Section I: What rhyme is, and the several sorts of it

Rhyme is a likeness or uniformity of sound in the terminations of two words. I say of sound, not of letters; for the office of rhyme being to content and please the ear, and not the eye, the sound only is to be regarded, not the writing: thus maid and persuade, laugh and quaff, though they differ in writing, rhyme very well: but plough and cough, though their terminations are written alike, rhyme not at all.

In our versification we may observe three several sorts of rhyme: single, double, and treble.

The single rhyme is of two sorts: one, of the words that are accented on the last syllable; another, of those that have their accent on the last save two.

The words accented on the last syllable, if they end in a consonant, or mute _e_, oblige the rhyme to begin at the vowel that precedes their last consonant, and to continue to the end of the word. In a consonant; as,

"Here might be seen, the Beauty, Wealth, and Wit,
And Prowess, to the Pow'r of Love submit."
—_Dryden._

In mute _e_; as,

"A Spark of Virtue, by the deepest Shade
Of sad Adversity, is fairer made."
—_Waller._

But if a diphthong precede the last consonant the rhyme must begin at that vowel of it whose sound most prevails; as,

"Next to the Pow'r of making Tempest cease,
Was in that storm to have so calm a Peace."
—_Waller._

If the words accented on the last syllable end in any of the vowels, except mute _e_, or in a diphthong, the rhyme is made only to that vowel or diphthong. To the vowel; as,

"So wing'd with Praise we penetrate the Sky,
Teach Clouds and Stars to praise him as we fly."—_Waller._

To the diphthong; as,

"So hungry Wolves, tho' greedy of their Prey,
Stop when they find a Lion in the Way."—_Waller._

The other sort of single rhyme is of the words that have their accent on the last syllable save two, and these rhyme to the other in the same manner as the former; that is to say, if they end in any of the vowels, except mute _e_, the rhyme is made only to that vowel; as,

"So seems to speak the youthful Deity;
Voice, Colour, Hair, and all like Mercury."—_Waller._

But if they end in a consonant or mute _e_, the rhyme must begin at the vowel that precedes that consonant, and continue to the end of the word; as has been shewn by the former examples.

But we must take notice, that all the words that are accented on the last save two, will rhyme not only to one another, but also to all the words whose terminations have the same sound, though they are accented on the last syllable. Thus tenderness rhymes not only to poetess, wretchedness, and the like, that are accented on the last save two, but also to confess, excess, &c., that are accented on the last; as,

"Thou art my Father now these Words confess That Name, and that indulgent Tenderness."—_Dryden._