Masculine and feminine endings
A masculine ending and feminine ending or weak ending are terms used in prosody, the study of verse form. "Masculine ending" refers to a line ending in a stressed syllable. "Feminine ending" is its opposite, describing a line ending in a stressless syllable. This definition is applicable in most cases; see below, however, for a more refined characterization. Example Below are the first two stanzas of "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In each stanza, the first and third lines have a feminine ending and the second and fourth lines a masculine one. Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!— For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. The final stressless syllables, creating feminine endings, are -bers, again -bers, -nest, and again -nest. The final stressed syllables, creating masculine endings, are dream, seem, goal, and soul. Rhyme Masculine rhymes When masculine endings are rhymed (such as "dream" and "seem" in the previous example), the result is called a masculine rhyme (or single rhyme). In English-language poetry, especially serious verse, masculine rhymes comprise a majority of all rhymes. John Donne's poem "Lecture Upon the Shadow" is one of many that use exclusively masculine rhyme: Stand still, and I will read to thee A lecture, love, in Love's philosophy. These three hours that we have spent Walking here, two shadows went Along with us, which we ourselves produced. But now the sun is just above our head, We do those shadows tread, And to brave clearness all things are reduced. Feminine rhymes When lines with feminine endings are rhymed (such as "numbers" and "slumbers"), the result is termed a feminine rhyme (or double rhyme). The following unstressed syllables of a feminine rhyme are often identity rhymes (all syllables the same), but do not have to be; they may be a mosaic rhymes, such as "expand me" and "strand thee". The feminine rhyme is rare in a monosyllabic language such as English, but the gerund and participle suffix -ing can make it readily available. The Hudibrastic relies upon feminine rhyme for its comedy, and limericks will often employ outlandish feminine rhymes for their humor. Irish satirist Jonathan Swift used many feminine rhymes in his poetry. William Shakespeare's "Sonnet number 20" makes use of feminine rhymes: Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" employs multiple feminine rhymes as internal rhymes throughout. In French verse, a feminine rhyme is one in which the final syllable is a "silent" e, even if the word is masculine. In classical French poetry, two feminine rhymes cannot occur in succession. A masculine rhyme is one in which the final syllable is not a "silent" e, even if the word is feminine. In classical French poetry, two masculine rhymes cannot occur in succession. In couplets and stanzas Poems often arrange their lines in