Question

read this passage from phillis wheatley’s poem “to the king’s most excellent majesty.” label each line with a letter to represent rhyme scheme by using the drop-down menus.
...the crown upon your brows may flourish long, \t\t\ta
and that your arm may in your god be strong! \t\t\ta
o may your sceptre numrous nations sway, \t\t\tb
and all with love and readiness obey! \t\t\t
but how shall we the british king reward! \t\t\t
rule thou in peace, and our lord! \t\t\t
midst the remembrance of thy favours past, \t\t\t
the meanest peasants most admire the last... \t\t\t
—“to the ki \t\t\twheat

Explanation:

To determine the rhyme scheme, we analyze the end - sounds of each line:

Step 1: Analyze the first two lines

• The first line: "The crown upon your brows may flourish long" (ends with "long").
• The second line: "And that your arm may in your God be strong!" (ends with "strong"). Since these two lines rhyme, they are both assigned the letter "A".

Step 2: Analyze the third and fourth lines

• The third line: "O may your sceptre num'rous nations sway" (ends with "sway").
• The fourth line: "And all with love and readiness obey!" (ends with "obey"). These two lines rhyme with each other, but not with the first two lines. So, they should be assigned the letter "B".

Step 3: Analyze the fifth line

• The fifth line: "But how shall we the British king reward!" (ends with "reward"). This line has a new end - sound, so it gets a new letter, "C".

Step 4: Analyze the sixth line

• The sixth line: "Rule thou in peace, and our lord!" (ends with "lord"). This is a new end - sound, so it gets the letter "D".

Step 5: Analyze the seventh line

• The seventh line: "Midst the remembrance of thy favours past," (ends with "past"). This is a new end - sound, so it gets the letter "E".

Step 6: Analyze the eighth line

• The eighth line: "The meanest peasants most admire the last..." (ends with "last"). This line rhymes with the seventh line (both end with sounds related to "past" and "last"), so it should be assigned the letter "E".

For the fourth line ("And all with love and readiness obey!"), the rhyme scheme letter is "B". For the fifth line ("But how shall we the British king reward!"), the rhyme scheme letter is "C". For the sixth line ("Rule thou in peace, and our lord!"), the rhyme scheme letter is "D". For the seventh line ("Midst the remembrance of thy favours past,"), the rhyme scheme letter is "E". For the eighth line ("The meanest peasants most admire the last..."), the rhyme scheme letter is "E".

If we focus on the fourth line (the one with the blue - circled drop - down in the image), the answer is "B".

Answer:

To determine the rhyme scheme, we analyze the end - sounds of each line:

Step 1: Analyze the first two lines

• The first line: "The crown upon your brows may flourish long" (ends with "long").
• The second line: "And that your arm may in your God be strong!" (ends with "strong"). Since these two lines rhyme, they are both assigned the letter "A".

Step 2: Analyze the third and fourth lines

• The third line: "O may your sceptre num'rous nations sway" (ends with "sway").
• The fourth line: "And all with love and readiness obey!" (ends with "obey"). These two lines rhyme with each other, but not with the first two lines. So, they should be assigned the letter "B".

Step 3: Analyze the fifth line

• The fifth line: "But how shall we the British king reward!" (ends with "reward"). This line has a new end - sound, so it gets a new letter, "C".

Step 4: Analyze the sixth line

• The sixth line: "Rule thou in peace, and our lord!" (ends with "lord"). This is a new end - sound, so it gets the letter "D".

Step 5: Analyze the seventh line

• The seventh line: "Midst the remembrance of thy favours past," (ends with "past"). This is a new end - sound, so it gets the letter "E".

Step 6: Analyze the eighth line

• The eighth line: "The meanest peasants most admire the last..." (ends with "last"). This line rhymes with the seventh line (both end with sounds related to "past" and "last"), so it should be assigned the letter "E".

For the fourth line ("And all with love and readiness obey!"), the rhyme scheme letter is "B". For the fifth line ("But how shall we the British king reward!"), the rhyme scheme letter is "C". For the sixth line ("Rule thou in peace, and our lord!"), the rhyme scheme letter is "D". For the seventh line ("Midst the remembrance of thy favours past,"), the rhyme scheme letter is "E". For the eighth line ("The meanest peasants most admire the last..."), the rhyme scheme letter is "E".

If we focus on the fourth line (the one with the blue - circled drop - down in the image), the answer is "B".