Question

reread the first six lines of the sonnet. if the first line is identified as a in the rhyme scheme, how should the remaining lines be identified?
shall i compare thee to a summer’s day?
thou art more lovely and more temperate:
rough winds do shake the darling buds of may,
and summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
and often is his gold complexion dimm’d,

Explanation:

Rhyme schemes label lines with matching end sounds using the same letter. First line ("day?") = "a". Line 2 ("temperate:") rhymes with line 4 ("date:") → "b". Line 3 ("May,") rhymes with line 1 → "a". Line 5 ("shines,") rhymes with line 6 ("dimm'd,") → "c".

Answer:

• Thou art more lovely and more temperate: b
• Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May: a
• And summer's lease hath all too short a date: b
• Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines: c
• And often is his gold complexion dimm'd: c