Internal rhymes sometimes occur in the span of a single line in a song or poem. Consider Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem, "The Raven." Poe used internal rhymes repeatedly, beginning with his opening line, "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary." The words "dreary" and "weary" rhyme, while the rest of the line does not. Other writing devices, including the repetition of the "w," help the words flow even more.
Sometimes, a rhyme is hidden in a piece of writing, tucked inside a verse. Looking at "The Raven," you can see this in the sample verse:
"Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and
door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore."
In this example, "door" and "yore" encompass one internal rhyme. Note that he also includes a one-line rhyme, with the words "sinking" and "linking" appearing on the same line.
Internal rhymes are used in poetry and song, including music by rap artists. Musician Kelly Clarkson's song "A Place in this World" provides a mainstream example of the internal rhyme: "I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh but life goes on." The words "strong" and "wrong" are the rhyming words. Internal rhymes are also common in nursery rhymes, as in the one about Jack Sprat that opens with the line, "Jack Sprat could eat no fat."
Internal rhymes allow writers to achieve a desired effect in a piece. The exact impact may vary with the reader as well as the poem. The website Knowing Poe notes an internal rhyme can quicken the pace of a poem while you anticipate the next rhyme, or it can slow the reader down as they focus on the rhyming words. Some might use an internal rhyme to emphasize the connection between the rhyming words.