Bouts-rimés (Fr., 'rhymed endings') are a kind of verse, the making of which forms a social amusement. Some one of the party gives out the rhymes or endings of a stanza, and the others have to fill up the lines as they best may. Suppose the rhymes prescribed are wave, lie; brave, die; the following are two of the ways in which the lines might be completed:
| Dark are the secrets of the gulping | wave, |
| Where, wrapped in death, so many heroes | lie; |
| Yet glorious death's the guard of the | brave, |
| And those who bravely live can bravely | die. |
| Whenever I sail on the | wave, |
| O'ercome with sea-sickness I | lie; |
| I can sing of the sea, and look | brave; |
| When I feel it, I feel like to | die. |
These were once very popular, especially in France, and endless ingenuity was wasted on 'this foolish kind of wit.' See No. 60 of the Spectator.