Aubade

A poem’s rhyme scheme is its pattern of sounds that repeat at the end of individual lines or stanzas. The regular and orderly rhyme scheme of Jackson’s “Aubade” provides a rhythmic musical quality suggesting both ease and confidence—qualities that suit the speaker of a seduction poem like an aubade.

The rhyme scheme of “Aubade” is easy to identify and follow. Each of the 32 lines of the poem ends on a consonant sound, and the rhyme scheme is as follows: ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKLKLMNMNOPOP.

Though the rhyme scheme of the poem suggests order, the individual lines of the poems vary in meter and rhythm, giving an intimate quality to the vernacular and sensual imagery of the poem. The language of the poem follows the natural rhythm of a conversation between two people, which enhances the tone of informal familiarity. The contrasting effect of natural-sounding line-by-line language and strong consonance at the end of each line compel the reader, and ideally, the speaker’s beloved, to listen and to be enticed by the speaker’s words.