Question

trevor has been asked to analyze the rhyme scheme in shakespeare’s “sonnet 18”
sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
and often is his gold complexion dimm’d,
and every fair from fair sometime declines,
by chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d.
which is the correct rhyme scheme for this stanza?
○ aabb
○ abcd
○ abab
○ abcc

Explanation:

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

• The end - word of the first line is "shines". Let's assign it the letter "a".
• The end - word of the second line is "dimm'd". We assign it the letter "b" since it doesn't rhyme with "shines".
• The end - word of the third line is "declines". It rhymes with "shines" (the end - word of the first line), so we assign it "a".
• The end - word of the fourth line is "untrimm'd". It rhymes with "dimm'd" (the end - word of the second line), so we assign it "b".

Putting these together, the rhyme scheme is abab.

Answer:

C. abab