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Difficulty: MediumAnalysis of Poetic Form, Structure, and Rhyme Scheme

Read the unseen poetic passage below carefully:

High on the cliff the solitary pine,
Whispers its secrets to the passing breeze,
While below, the restless waves align,
And crash against the ancient, rugged trees.
In silent watch it stands against the night,
A sturdy sentinel of stone and bark,
Holding the embers of the fading light,
Before the coastline yields unto the dark.

What is the rhyme scheme of the passage above?

  1. abab cdcdAnswer
  2. B
    abba cddc
  3. C
    aabb ccdd
  4. D
    abab abab

Answer

The rhyme scheme of the given 8-line unseen poetic passage is abab cdcd.
The passage consists of two quatrains featuring alternate rhyme patterns. In the first stanza, 'pine' (line 1) rhymes with 'align' (line 3), and 'breeze' (line 2) rhymes with 'trees' (line 4), yielding abab. In the second stanza, 'night' (line 5) rhymes with 'light' (line 7), and 'bark' (line 6) rhymes with 'dark' (line 8), yielding cdcd. Together, they form the rhyme scheme abab cdcd.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the end-rhymes of the first quatrain (lines 1–4).
Line 1 ends with 'pine' (assigned letter 'a'). Line 2 ends with 'breeze' (assigned letter 'b'). Line 3 ends with 'align', which rhymes with 'pine' ('a'). Line 4 ends with 'trees', which rhymes with 'breeze' ('b'). This gives abab for the first four lines.
Rhyme scheme mapping requires labeling each new line-ending sound sequentially with a letter.
2
Analyze the end-rhymes of the second quatrain (lines 5–8).
Line 5 ends with 'night' (new sound, assigned 'c'). Line 6 ends with 'bark' (new sound, assigned 'd'). Line 7 ends with 'light', which rhymes with 'night' ('c'). Line 8 ends with 'dark', which rhymes with 'bark' ('d'). This gives cdcd for lines 5 through 8.
When new end-rhyme sounds are introduced in subsequent stanzas, continuous letter progression is used.
3
Combine the results of both stanzas to determine the full rhyme scheme.
Combining both stanzas yields the alternate rhyme scheme abab cdcd.
The complete structural pattern of an 8-line poem divided into two quatrains is expressed by combining the individual stanza rhyme patterns.

Key Concept

End-rhyme scheme identification in unseen poetry
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Topics

Analysis of Poetic Form, Structure, and Rhyme Scheme

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