Rime riche

Rime riche(French pronunciation:[ʁimʁiʃ]) is a form ofrhymewith three identicalsounds (phoneme)including the stressed vowel. InclassicalFrench poetry(betweenMalherbeandRomanticism) rhymes normally have to be visual too: both sound andspellinghave to be identical.

InFrench poetry,rhymes are usually classified on the basis of the number of rhyming sounds. A "rime pauvre" ( "poor rhyme" ) includes one common sound at the end of the two rhyming segments.Consonant soundsdo not rhyme on their own (ducdoesn't rime withdoncdespite the identical single consonant/k/at the end), so a "rime pauvre" can only be avocalic sound.In the following example of "rime pauvre" byRacineinAndromaque,the rhyming sound is /y/; identically spelt"-ue":

(...) ma vengeance est perdue,

s'il ignore en mourant que c'est moi qui le tue.

A "rime suffisante" ( "sufficient rhyme" ) includes two identical sounds, one of which must be a vowel. Two consecutive vowel sounds being extremely rare in French, "rimes suffisantes" are usually in the vowel-consonant or consonant-vowel format. In the following example of "rime suffisante" by Racine inBritannicus,/ne/ are the two rhyming sounds, identically spelt"-nés".

Au joug depuis longtemps, ils se sont façonnés;

Ils adorent la main qui les tient enchaînés.

A "rime riche" ( "rich rhyme" ) includes three identical sounds. In the following example of "rime riche" by Racine inPhèdre,/aʃe/ are the three rhyming sounds, identically spelt"-achée".

Ce n'est plus une ardeur dans mes veines cachée,

C'est Vénus tout entière à sa proie attachée.

There is no canonical name for rhymes over three identical sounds. They are frowned upon in classical French poetry.

See also

• Holorime,an extreme form of rime riche when two entire lines ofversehave identical sounds
• Perfect rhyme,when rhyming words or phrases have identical sounds except the leading articulation