Question

read the first five lines of shakespeare’s “sonnet 12,” and use the drop - down menus to mark the rhyme scheme.
when i do count the clock that tells the time,
and see the brave day sunk in hideous night,
when i behold the violet past prime,
and sable curls all silvered o’er with white:
when lofty trees i see barren of leaves

Explanation:

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

Line 1: "When I do count the clock that tells the time"

Let's take the end - sound of this line. We'll assign it the first letter of the rhyme scheme, which is "a".

Line 2: "And see the brave day sunk in hideous night"

The end - sound of this line rhymes with the end - sound of line 1. So, it also gets the label "a".

Line 3: "When I behold the violet past prime"

The end - sound here is different from the end - sound of lines 1 and 2. So, we assign it the next letter in the rhyme scheme, which is "b".

Line 4: "And sable curls all silvered o'er with white"

The end - sound of this line rhymes with the end - sound of line 3. Thus, it is also labeled "b".

Line 5: "When lofty trees I see barren of leaves"

The end - sound here is different from the end - sounds of lines 1, 2 (group "a") and lines 3, 4 (group "b"). So, we assign it the letter "c".

So, the rhyme scheme for the five lines is:

1. a
2. a
3. b
4. b
5. c

Answer:

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

Line 1: "When I do count the clock that tells the time"

Let's take the end - sound of this line. We'll assign it the first letter of the rhyme scheme, which is "a".

Line 2: "And see the brave day sunk in hideous night"

The end - sound of this line rhymes with the end - sound of line 1. So, it also gets the label "a".

Line 3: "When I behold the violet past prime"

The end - sound here is different from the end - sound of lines 1 and 2. So, we assign it the next letter in the rhyme scheme, which is "b".

Line 4: "And sable curls all silvered o'er with white"

The end - sound of this line rhymes with the end - sound of line 3. Thus, it is also labeled "b".

Line 5: "When lofty trees I see barren of leaves"

The end - sound here is different from the end - sounds of lines 1, 2 (group "a") and lines 3, 4 (group "b"). So, we assign it the letter "c".

So, the rhyme scheme for the five lines is:

1. a
2. a
3. b
4. b
5. c