To rhyme or not to rhyme...?

[calonjed]

I prefer poetry that rhymes. It seems to flow better and is more impressive to the reader. Having said that there are exceptions. If you've ever been to a poetry reading, you will hear a lot of passionate poetry that does not rhyme.

[dheyd]

Whether poetry rhymes or not doesn't matter to me. Rather, it's the subject matter or the message the poet is getting across that interest me.

[allesha]

I'm a sucker for rhymes

[Brianaporter]

I am definitely against poetry rhyming. I think it's very child like. Poetry doesn't have to have a rhyme pattern, as long as it makes you feel something.

[Hanner3030]

If I write a poem at all then it has to be rhymed but if I'm reading a poem it can be either or. I personally think rhyming poems flow better but that's just me.

[RebekaV]

I like poetry that rhymes much better. I do agree that poetry without rhyme is chopped up prose.

[Bluefirerose]

Rhyme is a wonderful tool in poetry, if used well. The problem with rhyme is that too many people use it just for the sake of rhyme. If it doesn't flow or make any sense, rhyming is immaterial.

[leiie]

It does not matter to me anyways. I like poems that rhyme they sound smooth but I also love freeverse. A good poem is a good poem, regardless of it rhymes or not.

[Ryan]

It entirely depends on the content. If a writer is writing about adulthood and is reflecting on their life, for example, then perhaps a rhyme scheme is appropriate to show their wisdom/clarity of thought. If perhaps the poet uses iambic pentameter and varies the use of feet in the right places, then reflecting on the vicissitudes of adulthood would be beautifully reflected in that. Sometimes free verse is appropriate in poems about loss or death where the (often) predictability of rhyme is too soft that not even the use of a few spondees can make it work. Blank verse fits beautifully in between these, which is why it has been used by some of the greatest English writers.

[Archie1791]

It doesn't matter that a poem rhymes or not. It should have a meaning and a soul. Sometimes people force so much to rhyme the words that they make it nonsense. These are different styles of poetry and people have different choices. So i don't think that a poem is always rhyme.

[WinterCandyMints]

Rhymed. Dr. Strauss (I am spelling that wrong) all the way.

[Ryan]

Rhymed. Dr. Strauss (I am spelling that wrong) all the way.

Dr Seuss?

[Genaaa]

It really all depends for me personally. There are some poems where they sound better with rhyming but there are also some that don't really sound that great with it.

[furybeginner]

... that is the question. (I just had to finish it )

Rhymes, definitely. They sound better. I enjoy listening to poems read out loud and those that don't rhyme don't impress me at all.

Of course, content is a completely different story. I have read some poems that don't have rhymes and they are really good.

[Gnome]

I would say rhythm is more important than rhyme. A poem should flow naturally that a reader would easily overlook the poet rhyming a word with itself. I would add in meter as well but I never got the hang of sitting and counting syllables