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

Read the poetic extract below carefully:

Silent streams through meadows glide,
Beneath the silver moonlit sky;
The whispering winds of eventide
Sweep softly as the hours pass by.
No shadows haunt the peaceful lake,
Where quiet dreams at last awake.

What is the rhyme scheme of the stanza above?

  1. ababccAnswer
  2. B
    abbaab
  3. C
    aabbcc
  4. D
    abcdef

Answer

The rhyme scheme of the stanza is ababcc.
The correct answer is ababcc because line 1 ('glide') and line 3 ('eventide') share sound 'a', line 2 ('sky') and line 4 ('by') share sound 'b', and lines 5 and 6 ('lake' and 'awake') form a closing rhyming couplet assigned sound 'c'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Assign the first lowercase letter 'a' to the end word of Line 1.
Line 1 ends with 'glide' (a).
Rhyme schemes begin by designating the first line's ending sound with the letter 'a'.
2
Examine Line 2 and Line 3 end sounds.
Line 2 ends with 'sky' (new sound -> b). Line 3 ends with 'eventide', which rhymes with 'glide' (sound -> a).
Identical end sounds receive the same letter marker.
3
Examine Line 4, Line 5, and Line 6 end sounds.
Line 4 ends with 'by' (rhymes with 'sky' -> b). Line 5 ends with 'lake' (new sound -> c). Line 6 ends with 'awake' (rhymes with 'lake' -> c).
Completing the letter assignments for all six lines yields the sequence a-b-a-b-c-c.

Key Concept

End-Rhyme Scheme Mapping
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Topics

Analysis of Poetic Form, Structure, and Rhyme Scheme

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