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Difficulty: MediumPoetic Structure and Form

Read the poetic excerpt below carefully:

"Upon the peak the lonely falcon stands,
And watches clouds drift slowly through the sky;
He gazes down across the desert sands,
And heeds the distant ocean's muffled cry.
No mortal hand can curb his noble flight,
Nor dim the fire of his fearless sight."

Which of the following correctly identifies the stanzaic structure and rhyme scheme of the excerpt?

  1. A six-line stanza (sestet) with an ababccababcc rhyme schemeAnswer
  2. B
    A six-line stanza (sestet) with an abbaccabbacc rhyme scheme
  3. C
    A stanza written in terza rima with an ababcbcababcbc rhyme scheme
  4. D
    An octave stanza with an aabbccddaabbccdd rhyme scheme

Answer

The excerpt is a six-line stanza (sestet) with an ababccababcc rhyme scheme.
The extract comprises six lines of poetry (a sestet). Mapping the end-rhymes shows that 'stands' (line 1) rhymes with 'sands' (line 3), designated as aa; 'sky' (line 2) rhymes with 'cry' (line 4), designated as bb; and 'flight' (line 5) rhymes with 'sight' (line 6), designated as cc. Thus, the pattern is an alternating quatrain followed by a rhyming couplet, making ababccababcc the correct structural rhyme scheme.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Count the total number of lines in the poem extract.
The extract contains exactly six lines, which defines it structurally as a sestet.
Determining the line count is the first step in establishing stanzaic form.
2
Analyze the end-rhymes of each line in sequence.
Line 1 ("stands") = aa; Line 2 ("sky") = bb; Line 3 ("sands") = aa; Line 4 ("cry") = bb; Line 5 ("flight") = cc; Line 6 ("sight") = cc.
Matching corresponding phonetic end-sounds reveals the rhyme pattern.
3
Combine the stanzaic line count and end-rhyme pattern to identify the complete structural form.
The structure is a six-line stanza (sestet) following an ababccababcc scheme.
Combining line-count classification with end-rhyme analysis provides the definitive structural description.

Key Concept

Poetic Structure and Rhyme Scheme Analysis
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Topics

Poetic Structure and Form

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