Question

complete the rhyme scheme.
a b b c c
\who planted this old apple-tree?\
the children of that distant day
thus to some aged man shall say;
and, gazing on its mossy stem,
the gray - haired man shall answer them.
adapted from william cullen bryant, \the planting of the apple - tree\

Explanation:

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

1. The first line ends with "tree". Let's check which other lines rhyme with it. The word "tree" rhymes with... Wait, actually, let's list the end - words: "tree", "day", "say", "stem", "them".

• "day" and "say" rhyme (both have the long "a" sound in their rhymes). "stem" and "them" rhyme (both have the short "e" sound in their rhymes). "tree" is a separate rhyme for now.
• The given rhyme scheme starts with A, B, B, C, C. So the first line "Who planted this old apple - tree?" should be A (since it's the first unique rhyme).
• The second line "The children of that distant day" and the third line "Thus to some aged man shall say" rhyme, so they should be B (as the given scheme has B, B).
• The fourth line "And, gazing on its mossy stem" and the fifth line "The gray - haired man shall answer them" rhyme, so they should be C (as the given scheme has C, C).
• So the rhyme scheme for each line is: First line: A; Second line: B; Third line: B; Fourth line: C; Fifth line: C.

Answer:

First line (Who planted this old apple - tree?): A
Second line (The children of that distant day): B
Third line (Thus to some aged man shall say;): B
Fourth line (And, gazing on its mossy stem,): C
Fifth line (The gray - haired man shall answer them.): C