Children’s Rhymes

Langston Hughes’ “Children’s Rhymes” is composed of three stanzas, and each stanza contains five lines, making each stanza a quintain. The poem is lyric and an example of free verse, since it is short and doesn’t employ iambic pentameter or any prescribed meter. The lines could have as many syllables as Hughes wants, but he sticks to short, monosyllabic words to create a cohesive sound. A rhyme scheme also contributes to the form and meter, with the third and fifth lines rhyming in each stanza. As Hughes is writing in free verse, he has room to improvise, so in the first two stanzas, it’s not just the third and fifth lines that rhyme. If the pronunciation of "sends” (Line 1), “kids” (Line 2), and “can’t” (Line 4) is manipulated somewhat, then all five lines rhyme in Stanza 1. More so, in Stanza 2, “everybody” (Line 9) rhymes with the last words in Lines 8 and 10.

Assonance is a literary device that allows the poet to create a rhythm and harmony by repeating similar vowel sounds.