Stanza return-path desk
Rhyme Scheme Analyzer
Map line-ending families, correct the pronunciation evidence, and see how a stanza closes, alternates, or carries rhyme forward.
Endings marked “phonetic lexicon” use embedded pronunciation families; unfamiliar words use a visibly labeled spelling estimate.
Tap an ending to correct its route
Select a line ending above.
Choose a scheme shape.
Repeated ending families.
How the final line resolves.
Alternation and chain behavior.
How to play
Mouse or touch: paste 2–12 lyric lines and map their endings. Tap an ending chip, then assign A–L, give it a fresh letter, restore its detected family, or move its whole line. Tap internal words to pin echoes you hear inside the line. Scheme blueprints compare structure without rewriting a word. If you edit the source after mapping, the path controls pause until you remap, so stale endings cannot be mistaken for the new stanza.
Keyboard: outside the textarea, ↑/↓ changes the focused line, letter keys A–L assign its family, Alt + ↑/↓ reorders it, and T starts or holds the stanza trace. Focused controls also use standard Enter and Space.
Detection convention: the embedded lexicon groups words by their final stressed vowel and following sounds. Unknown words receive a conservative spelling-rime key and are explicitly labeled “spelling estimate.” Near rhymes are not merged automatically; your manual family choice is the final authority.
- Use the blueprint mismatch markers as revision prompts, not grades—a deliberate broken rhyme can make a final line feel exposed.
- Pin an internal echo when a word anticipates a later ending; the density and return reading will acknowledge that extra connective tissue.
Paste a stanza of your poem into the editor. Watch as it map out the line endings and shows you which lines rhyme. This will give you an idea of your poem’s rhyme scheme.
You can interact with this widget in two ways. Either tap or click on controls using your finger or mouse. Alternatively, use your computer keyboard to move around and assign rhyme families.
How to Use the Rhyme Tool
The widget is limited to using up to 12 lines (including no empty lines). Simply enter the lyrics in box near top and then hit the Map these line endings button. This will parse out the last word of every line and assign those words to rhyme families identified as A-L. It does this by using a phonetic dictionary that detects similar sounding words. If it doesn’t recognize a word, it estimates what the sound might be based off spelling and flags those estimates so you can tell where the analysis came from.
Click on an ending chip at the end of each line to choose it, and use correction desk underneath the map to change which rhyme assignment is being used for each one. If you click Return detected family, the ending will return to whatever was originally detected; alternatively, click A through L in the family editor to assign a new family letter. Because the automatic detector may not pick up on intentional slant rhymes, or even near rhymes, that don’t fit into one of the current families, you can also click on an ending and reassign it a new letter yourself.
The blueprint buttons is cool because they overlay your stanzas with a target pattern (clicking on ABAB will overlay a set of lines in that pattern). Where your lines do not end as pattern suggests, the widget highlights them. This can be nice to see where your poem follows or deviates from a traditional form. It doesn’t alter your assigned families or lyrics. It just shows you where you’re following or not following the blueprint you’ve chosen.
It will also display the internal echoes of what’s happening in your lines, and you can click on a word in a chosen line that points toward its end to ‘pin’ it as an echo. The widget marks these internal links, allowing you to see how words in each line connect. The diagnostics for return and density will adjust accordingly to take account of these additional links, keeping the data accurate.
To accelerate the analysis, use keyboard. To move focus up or down a line, you simply tap on the up or down arrow key. To assign the currently focused line to one of twelve rhyme families (A-L), just tap on the appropriate letter key. While holding down Alt, you can then use the arrow keys to move the focused line up or down in stanza. This not only updates the map but also reorders text in the editor itself. You can turn off the stanza trace by tapping T or turn it back on again. When turned on, the rhyme returns light up path in the editor.
It provides a report on your stanza’s characteristics, as well as how closely the poem adheres to chosen blueprint. For example, it tallies the number of times you use the same family of endings. Rhyming density, and judges closure based off the resolution of rhyme. It will recognize any pattern of returns (such as couplets or alternating weaves), and tell you how much importance they carry in your poem.
Click Trace the stanza path to animate the rhyme connections and see ribbons draw between lines that share a rhyme family. As it moves through the stanza and highlights each line, it will also show where the sound return. You can pause the trace and adjust as needed. Your edits will update the trace, and this is one method for testing effect of different arrangement on the overall flow.
Click the Undo stanza edit button to revert the stanza and its mappings to prior edit, letting you reverse an error. This is useful because the widget maintains a history of all your edits. Stepping backward in time is easy.
The fullscreen button expands the widget into full-screen mode, which provides more space to view both the diagnostic data and the ribbon of rhymes.
If form is naturaly for your poem, try varying it (experimenting with various plans) and discover which works best. Mismatch markers indicate where you may want to break form for effect; they also act as revision prompts. You can paste a couple of lines in and see what happens. Explore the possibilities using the tool.