That is a question asked by many beginners in writing poetry.
What is the answer? Like all good answers it begins: "It depends".

Judgement
"It depends" on your own judgement. This is the first criterion.
Every aspiring poet needs to be able to answer this part of
the question for themselves. And it is difficult to give precise
advise.

Ask yourself: what kind of a poem is it that I am going to write?
what effect am I trying to create in the mind of a reader? will
rhyming tend to add to that effect or detract from it?

These are the kinds of questions which the poet needs to ask.
At least in the early stages they are not so easy to answer. So
look at poems other people have written - other well-established
poets or poets with accepted reputations as being in some sense
(and there lies a whole host of other questions!) a good poet.

Fashion
Who is a good poet depends on opinion - and opinions change.
So part of your answer will depend on fashion. Rhyming is less
fashionable now than at some times in the past. Which is not at all
to say one should not rhyme. The situation is not at all that in using
certain words which are held to be archaic, such as "thee", "thou",
thine" etc. There is still much rhyming poetry. But beware
of "hard" and obvious rhyming: "the cat sat on the mat" type.
If people can guess what is coming the effect is ruined.

Sometimes, some would say far too often, we allow fashion to be
dictated to us. But we also contribute to fashion - and there are
fashions in poetry as in most things. We tend to buy what we like
and what we buy contributes to present fashion.

Hence if we are not too discerning, we help to create a fashion
which has a questionable foundation. Consequently, when you buy
poetry books or journals, don't always get what you currently like,
or you will never allow yourself the opportunity to like something else!

Read as widely as you can. Both poets from past generations but also, in
some senses even more importantly because you are writing for people
living now, from the present generation. Certainly, some will seem
always to rhyme, others never to stop. But, for each poem, ask yourself:
why did the writer chose to write the poem in that particular way?Equally
important, ask yourself: would the poem have been stronger if written
in a different way?

You may not like much of what you read. But the main thing is to learn
from what you dislike as much as from what you do like. And don't be a
slave to fashion created by someone else. Create your own - but build it
on firm criteria. Critical reading is really the only way you will develop that
for yourself.

If You Decide Not To Rhyme
Rhyme and reason are linked. There is a purpose in using rhyme.
It is simply a technique for achieving a desired effect. But when
rhyme is not used, the effect has to come from something else. That
can be much more difficult to achieve.

So if you are at a begining stage, you may wish to stick with rhyming
until you have developed some expertise. That will come if you
are always asking yourself why other have done that and why you
have done this.

If You Decide To Rhyme
If you decide that rhyming would be appropriate to a particular poem,
and that it would add to the overall effect you are seeking to achieve
(or if it is a quite short poem, even to the final line or two), then you
need to decide on the rhyming structure.

This concerns which lines are to rhyme with which. How often is
rhyming to occur? There are (at least) two be carefuls here.
Be careful not to make the rhyming too heavy - using rather obvious
rhymes. This is especially important if you are using a aa structure
where consectutive lines are rhymed. But also be careful not to get
too sophisticated and put the rhymes so far apart that their effect is lost.

A abab structure is quite common where alternative lines rhyme: the a's
and the b's. Or abcabc can be used, but now the rhyming is getting
quite spread: the fourth line with the first, fifth with the second and
so forth. It is probably not wise to go beyond this as the rhyming is
in danger of loosing itself.

But other alternatives are possible. Try abba, or abcc. Try rhyming
some lines but not others. If * represents unrhymed lines, one might
try a**a, or ab**ab or whatever. Experiment. But in the finished
poem the combination should always have a reason for being used.
If you always know what it is, you are on the way to becoming a
poet - as opposed to someone who just writes verses.

Article Source: http://add-articles.com

AUTHOR: Anthony Keith Whitehead Web Site: www.christianword.co.uk This article is copyright but may be reproduced providing that all this information is included Keith had a wide range of employments before entering Leeds university in 1968 as a mature student. He has been writing poetry since the age of 10, although only began submitting seriously in 1992. Since then he has had over 600 poems published in various journals, magazines and newspapers across the world. He has also published several collections including the full length autobiographical "Working It Out", available fro his web site. Formal qualifications include: B.A. M.Phil. Cambridge University Certificate in Religious Studies Post Grad Cert in Education.