Question

choose the poem that uses trochaic meter. the lean coyote, prowler of the night, slips to his rocky fastnesses, jack - rabbits noiselessly shuttle among the sage - brush, and from the castellated cliffs should you ask me, whence these stories? whence these legends and traditions, with the odors of the forest with the dew and damp of meadows from charles erskine scott wood, \sunrise\ and from henry wadsworth longfellow, \the song

Explanation:

To determine which poem uses trochaic meter, we analyze the stress pattern of each line. Trochaic meter consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (a trochee: /ˈx x/).

Analyzing the first poem (from "Sunrise"):

• "The lean coyote, prowler of the night" → Stresses: The (unstressed), lean (stressed) → Starts with unstressed (iambic-like start, not trochaic).
• "Slips to his rocky fastnesses" → Slips (stressed), to (unstressed) → Trochee, but the first word is stressed. However, the first line’s start (unstressed) breaks trochaic consistency.

Analyzing the second poem (from "The Song of Hiawatha" by Longfellow):

• "Should you ask me, whence these stories?" → Should (stressed), you (unstressed) → Trochee.
• "Whence these legends and traditions," → Whence (stressed), these (unstressed) → Trochee.
• "With the odors of the forest" → With (stressed), the (unstressed) → Trochee.
• "With the dew and damp of meadows" → With (stressed), the (unstressed) → Trochee.

This poem consistently uses trochaic meter (stressed-unstressed) in each line.

The second poem (starting with "Should you ask me, whence these stories?") uses trochaic meter. Trochaic meter has a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. In this poem, lines like "Should you", "Whence these", "With the" follow the stressed-unstressed pattern (e.g., "Should" (stressed) + "you" (unstressed)), consistent with trochaic meter. The first poem lacks this consistent stressed-unstressed start.

Answer:

The poem: "Should you ask me, whence these stories?
Whence these legends and traditions,
With the odors of the forest
With the dew and damp of meadows" (from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s "The Song of Hiawatha") uses trochaic meter.