4.6 Writing Rhyming Poems

How To Write a Rhyming Poem - Drafting

• Use your ideas and the details you collected during prewriting to write a first draft.
• Try to get all your ideas on paper and don't worry about making your first draft perfect.
• You may choose to write more than one "version" to select from.

Start drafting your poem. As you write, choose if you would like to use rhyming couplets or have the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme. You could even have the first, second, and fourth line rhyme like Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.

It is best to write a couple of drafts so you can choose your favourite one to work on.

For example, here is version 1 (with rhyming couplets):

While walking by the pizza shop,

The odour almost made me stop.

All I could think of was gooey cheese,

Begged my mom - could we stop please?

I crave that sweet tomato sauce,

and love the way the dough they toss.

A pizza topped with pepperoni

makes my tastebuds scream in testimony.

And version 2 (second and fourth lines rhyming, first and third lines rhyming):

I dreamed I owned a pizza stand

It all seemed very easy

Kids from all throughout the land

Craved my pizza - t'was so cheesy/

Our famous topping of pepperoni

And secret recipe dough

Earned us praise and testimony

From people like Trudeau.