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A 'feminine rhyme', in English prosody, is a rhyme that matches two or more syllables at the end of the respective lines. Usually the final syllable is unstressed. Shakespeare’s Sonnet number 20, uniquely among the sonnets, makes use exclusively of feminine rhymes:
:A woman’s face with nature’s own hand 'painted',

::Hast thou, the master mistress of my 'passion';

:A woman’s gentle heart, but not 'acquainted'

::With shifting change, as is false women’s 'fashion'...

:But since she prick’d thee out for women’s 'pleasure',

::Mine be thy love and thy love’s use their 'treasure'.
Feminine rhyme is relatively rare in English poetry and usually appears as a special effect. However, the Hudibrastic relies upon feminine rhyme for its comedy, and limericks will often employ outlandish feminine rhymes for their humor.
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.
In hip hop music, especially since the 1990s, the use of feminine rhyme in rapping (often referred to by the colloquial terms “multis” or “multirhymes” — a contraction of “multisyllabic rhymes”) is considered a sign of technical skill, and some rappers have been known to put together large strings of complex rhyme patterns. A well known example of this type of lyricism is that of Eminem, as demonstrated in his 1995 song Infinite:
:My pen and paper cause a 'chain reaction'

:To get your 'brain relaxin’', cause 'they be actin’ maniac in action'

:A 'brainiac in fact son', you 'mainly lack attraction'

:You looking 'zany wack' when just a 'fraction of my tracks run'

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See also

See also

★ Masculine rhyme