Half rhyme, also known as close rhyme, slant rhyme, or oblique rhyme in prosody, is a pair of words that share just their last consonant sounds and no preceding vowel or consonant sounds (such as stopped and wept, or parable and shell). Half rhymes are often used to indicate recognition or appreciation (e.g., chime/jingle, dream/nod), similarity (e.g., bell/ball), or contrast (e.g., bake/cobble). Half rhymes are common in English poetry, especially ballads, because they are easy for most listeners or readers to recognize. Half rhymes can be either strong or weak depending on how similar the final sounds of the two words are. If the last sounds of the two words are identical (like coin and moon), then they are strong half rhymes. If not, like shoe and fox, then they are weak half rhymes. Half rhymes are useful in poems because they help create balance between lines of verse. Without half rhymes, all the lines would be the same length, which wouldn't be comfortable reading or listening to. Using half rhymes, each line of the poem contains an equal number of strong and weak half rhymes. There are several classes of half rhymes.