The following is paraphrased as well as copy/pasted from the entry in question–see the link below for the original (which, by this time, may well have been lucased)
I came upon an old, unpolished work of mine. Not exactly in this form, but in tetrameter Originally there were 4 quatrains. The original rhymescheme was AAxA, BBxB, etc. where ‘x’ is non rhyming. I thought one could sonnetize that by Turning the non-rhyming ‘x’ into a rhyme that carries through. This was an interesting result:
At last, the dawn, in perfect form, I see
So formed, a positive reality.
It’s purple state, in perfect choir, unveil
To shine, inspiringly, its song on me.With form, and measure never void, it brings
A subtle mastery of the world it sings.
Without abash, I hear it tell a tale
Of majesty, and many more such thingsWhich burn with glory’s power, as they shine
Upon this shadow dappled world of mine.
My dreams are splendour, as they dance–prevail
With measure, and with form, and perfect line!And dance I shall, as light–as mirrors bright
Reflect–avail, ’til dark, ’til death, ’til night!
Once again, you see the compressed rhyme scheme in the ending couplet. I may post the original at some point; and I may post the altered sixteen line version, which is in iambic pentameter.
Also, on that note, I am beginning to think that, in order to more clearly describe rhymeschemes, one might perhaps use letters and numbers, or perhaps, upper and lower case letters, for different types of rhymes. And perhaps, ‘x’ might indicate lines that do not rhyme?
As an example, to describe the above, one could do the following:
AA1A, BB1B, etc. Or perhaps 11A1, 22A2, etc. Thus, one draws a distinction between the two types of rhymes–-as “ephemeral,” or immortal, or perhaps even better called, “perpetual.”
As such, one can clearly see delineated such rhymes which only last a short time, with those which carry through an entire piece, or, as may be the case, a larger part of a much larger piece.
It makes more sense to me when I look at it. What one usually sees would be AABA, CCBA, etc, but where “A” feels like a “first rhyme” “C” really feels like a “second” (or a B) but, in this kind of numbering, “C” generally means “3″ which makes the notation confusing, and one has to think about it a bit more, to decipher.
And as I think of it more, I think the appropriate version of the above would be:
AA1A, BB1B, etc.
This is because, while it is highly unlikely that there would be a large number of ephemeral rhymes, or at least those for which the alphabet could not be recycled, there could potentially be–in a very long piece–any number of perpetual rhymes. And using the lowercase ‘x’ makes sense for non rhyming lines as well.
And a compressed scheme (or lines with internal rhymes such as the final couplet here could be in brackets of some kind. For this, I have generally been using square brackets. This would give the above sonnet as:
AA1A, BB1B, CC1C, [DD][1D]
David Emeron: Sonnets 