The objective of the present research proposal is to outline a general theory of the rhyme which might fully explain the meaning of such a device, filling a very significant gap in metrics and literary theory. The research has already started with a forthcoming article and a 3,5 months DAAD scholarship at the Freie Univestität Berlin: the present research proposal aims at developing it into a monograph. The already written chapters concern the general theory (1-Figurative function of the rhyme; 2-Outlines of a semiotics of the rhyme) and the intertextual implications of the rhyme. The new chapters to be written from scratch will concern: 1) the outlines of a general history of the rhyme (still lacking), from its origins up to the 20th Century; 2) the analysis, from the outlined theoretical perspective, of the main traditional rhyming structures (terzina, ottava, sonetto, canzone etc.) and their significance to the text; 3) an account of the partial revival of rhyme in present-day literature, in the attempt to answer the question if rhyme is still possible today and to what extent; 4) the relation of rhyme and psychoanalysis; 5) the question – hardy ever dealt with – of the relation of rhyme and rhyme patterns to music; 6) a survey of the use of rhyme in non-literary text, such as nursery rhymes, pop music lyrics, advertisements, to check the validity and the limits of the theory beyond literature and also to address a wider audience; 7) the outline of a “philosophy of rhyme”, examining the aesthetical conception implied by such a device; 8) an analysis of the use of the word “rhyme” when it appears in rhyme producing a metadiscourse in metrics and poetics. Besides the monograph, an important result will be the development of a refined rhyme-search software for digitized text corpora. The research results will be disseminated also through the web (wikies, websites, high-profile literary blogs) and through participation in workshops and international conferences.