Question

read the excerpt from the beginning of the poem.
from \birches\
when i see birches bend to left and right
across the lines of straighter darker trees,
i like to think some boy’s been swinging them.
but swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay
as ice storms do. often you must have seen them
loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
after a rain. they click upon themselves
as the breeze rises, and turn many - colored
as the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
which is a true statement about this excerpt from \birches\ by robert frost?
a. it contains an alternating pattern of rhymed and unrhymed lines.
b. it contains no meter or rhyme.
c. it contains lines of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.
d. it contains an alternating pattern consisting of two and four iambs.

Explanation:

Robert Frost's Birches uses iambic meter, which follows a pattern of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables (e.g., "When I see birches bend to left and right" follows the iambic rhythm: ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /). Option A is incorrect because the excerpt has no consistent rhyming pattern. Option B is wrong because the poem has a clear iambic meter. Option D is incorrect as the lines follow a consistent iambic pattern, not an alternating 2 and 4 iamb structure.

Answer:

C. It contains lines of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.