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I wrote this proposal in 1995, before I had a clear understanding of radif and qafiya. I am presenting it in its naivete anyway, for whatever interest it may have. For a more informed reflection on rhyme in English ghazals, see Joshua Gage's Rhyme in Ghazals.
In the original languages (Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, etc.), ghazals use the same rhyme throughout. I haven't seen any original ghazals in English that use rhyme. Not only does much modern poetry not rhyme, but it would be difficult to use the same rhyme for each line in a poem of five or more couplets.
However, poets may want to write ghazals that do rhyme. As well as adding a dimension to the sound of the poem, a rhyme scheme may also help the poet create the poem searching for a rhyme may help the poet discover content and imagery.
I propose a rhyme scheme for use in English ghazals that (I feel) fits the form and attitude of the ghazal. In this scheme, the last line of each couplet rhymes with the first line of the next couplet; the first and last lines of the ghazal rhyme with each other. For a five-couplet ghazal, the formula would be ab//bc//cd//de//ea. There are eight lines between the "a" rhymes; however, if the rhyme scheme is established in the reader's mind, the "a" rhyme will link the last line back to the first.
Traditionally, in English verse written in couplets, the lines of each couplet rhyme. Applied to ghazals, this rhyme scheme (aa//bb//cc// . . .) would emphasize the independence of the couplets and could be seen as appropriate to ghazals. As an alternative, my proposal, with rhymes between couplets, provides a counterpoint to the shifts in image between couplets: the rhymes provide a formal connection between couplets while the content of the couplets changes.
I have just begun to experiment with this rhyme scheme. While I don't write many rhyming poems, rhyme can be fascinating to play with. Here is an example of a ghazal with the rhyme scheme I propose.
Sophia comes whirling with a red dress on,
bare feet tinted by the dust of your soul.
The sky falls open as it abandons the pole;
every horizon pulls loose from its anchor.
Fifty years after the world's end, the victor
returns to silence and shadow where ghosts wait.
Another Pentecost showers fire the angels ate
burning pieces of divine flesh to soothe the throat
The hem of Sophia's dress, blazing red, sings its note
against the winds that summon reluctant dawn.
To make the scheme clear, I have used full rhymes throughout (although "anchor"/"victor" is less emphatic than the other rhymes). In practice, half or slant rhymes would be very effective, perhaps more effective than full rhymes because of their subtler effect.
If a poet did not want the effect of linking the first and last lines wit the first and last lines with the rhyme, the last line could end with a non-rhyming word(ab//bc//cd//de//ef). An attentive reader would notice that the firstand last lines were the only ones without rhymes and so the first and last lines would still be connected, although not as closely as they would be if rhymed.
I am not saying that all ghazals written in English should rhyme. Perhaps only a few should. But I do think that a rhyme scheme particular to English ghazals would provide new opportunities for our experiments with the form.