How does a poet use the breaking of an established rhyme scheme to create emphasis or meaning?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: By establishing a regular pattern, the poem creates an expectation. When a line deviates — introducing an unrhymed word, a slant rhyme where a perfect rhyme was expected, or an extra line — the deviation draws attention to itself. The word or idea that breaks the pattern is foregrounded, often marking an emotional turn or the poem's most important claim.
Formal expectation is a kind of promise. Breaking it is a rhetorical act. Readers who have internalized the pattern feel the disruption, which is why deviations at key moments can be more powerful than any amount of explicit statement.