Does anyone recognize this folding rhyme scheme?

October 3, 2006 10:43 AM

Does anyone recognize this rhyme scheme?

Some time ago, I wrote a poem with the following end rhyme scheme:

ABCDEFGHHGFEDCBA

The first line rhymes with the last line, the second with the second-to-last, third with third-to-last, and so on. It's a difficult form, but I can achieve some interesting effects with it. Has anyone else used this sort of scheme before? Does it have a name? What poems have followed it?

posted by Iridic to writing & language (6 comments total)

This guy uses it and calls it chiasmatic.

But I think the proper term is introverted or envelope, but those usually apply only to quatrains.
posted by Pastabagel at 10:53 AM on October 3, 2006

A palindromic rhyme scheme is what I call it, but I'm having difficulty finding corroboration.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:54 AM on October 3, 2006

Ya that's a palindrome alright! Don't know if anyone calls it that but it's the most descriptive word I can think of.
posted by Mister_A at 11:19 AM on October 3, 2006

Dylan Thomas's Author's Prologue is a good example of this rhyme-scheme.
posted by misteraitch at 11:21 AM on October 3, 2006

If you were addressing thematic content (rather than a rhyme scheme), it certainly would be a chiasm. Since you're asking about the rhyme, I'm not sure what to say.

Ancient texts used chiasms fairly frequently. Ancient Hebrew poetry (the Psalms, Proverbs) feature it a lot. So does Second-Temple Judaic thought. Paul (the Apostle), I think, uses the structure a fair amount.

Cameron Moll also uses it (although he calls it a "chiasmus") in both poetry and design. You can see that here.

And then, there's always Wikipedia.
posted by Alt F4 at 12:46 PM on October 3, 2006

The 8th Psalm does this, though the rhyming isn't obvious in translation.
posted by kc0dxh at 12:58 PM on October 3, 2006