Here is a line from the song "Popular" in the musical Wicked. I am trying to explain what we call the anticlimax of the last three lines, where a rhyme is expected but not delivered.
When I see depressing creatures/
With unprepossessing features/
I remind them on their own behalf/
To think of/
Celebrated heads of state or/
Specially great communicators/
Did they have brains or knowledge?/
Don't make me laugh!He,he!/
They were popular!
Is there a term for the rhyme scheme where we (arguably) expect knowledge to be rhymed with "college"?
Another example:
Roses are red/Violets are blue/Sugar is sweet/And so am I
The comedic effect of that poem is in the anticlimax of the final line. Is there a term for that anticlimax created from an unmade rhyme?
Best Answer
It's a subverted rhyme.
I hesitate to cite TV Tropes directly but the term has also appeared in ELU.