Question

complete the rhyme scheme.
a a b b c
the garden is very quiet tonight,
the dusk has gone with the evening star,
and out on the bay a lone ship light
makes a silver pathway over the bar
where the sea sings low.
from william h. a. moore, \dusk song\

Explanation:

In a rhyme scheme, each line is assigned a letter. Lines that rhyme with each other get the same letter.

• The word "tonight" (first line) and no other line rhymes with it initially. But wait, looking at the given rhyme - scheme pattern \(AABB C\).
• The word "Star" (second line) doesn't rhyme with "tonight".
• The word "light" (third line) rhymes with "tonight" (if we consider the vowel sound in the stressed syllable. In "tonight", the stressed syllable is "night" (\(/naɪt/\)) and in "light" (\(/laɪt/\)), the vowel sound \(/aɪ/\) is the same in the stressed syllable. So the first line (with "tonight") and the third line (with "light") get the letter \(A\).
• The word "Star" (second line, \(/stɑː(r)/\)) and "bar" (fourth line, \(/bɑː(r)/\)) have the same vowel sound \(/ɑː/\) in their stressed syllables. So the second line (with "Star") and the fourth line (with "bar") get the letter \(B\).
• The word "low" (fifth line, \(/ləʊ/\)) has a unique vowel sound (\(/əʊ/\)) compared to the other lines, so it gets the letter \(C\).

Answer:

First line: \(A\)
Second line: \(B\)
Third line: \(A\)
Fourth line: \(B\)
Fifth line: \(C\)