Rhyme and sonnets

Romeo and Juliet has the third-highest number of rhymed lines in any Shakespeare play. Many of these rhymes come in the form of a sonnet. 

Rhyme

Rhyme generally has many functions in a play. One of the most important ones is drawing attention to what is said or happening. This explains why we often find rhyme in important passages in a play. Depending on the context, rhyme might be used to express romance and happiness or utter tragedy. 

In Romeo and Juliet, rhyme is typically combined with iambic pentameter. Blank verse does not normally rhyme, but it frequently does in this play. One example is when Count Paris visits the tomb of Juliet whom he believes to be dead. He starts speaking in rhyming verse:

Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew.
O woe, thy canopy is dust and stones,
Which with sw...