Question

she walks in beauty
george gordon byron
she walks in beauty, like the night
of cloudless climes and starry skies;
and all thats best of dark and bright
meet in her aspect and her eyes:
thus mellowd to that tender light⁵
which heaven to gaudy day denies.
one shade the more, one ray the less,
had half impaird the nameless grace
which waves in every raven tress,
or softly lightens oer her face;¹⁰
where thoughts serenely sweet express
how pure, how dear their dwelling - place.
and on that cheek, and oer that brow,
so soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
the smiles that win, the tints that glow,¹⁵
but tell of days in goodness spent,
a mind at peace with all below,
a heart whose love is innocent!
which best describes the pattern of lines in each stanza of this poem?
a 6 line stanzas in an aaabbb rhyme scheme
b 6 line stanzas in an ababab rhyme scheme
c 6 line stanzas in an abbabb rhyme scheme
d 6 line stanzas in an abbaaa rhyme scheme

Explanation:

• First, count the number of lines in each stanza. Each stanza has 6 lines.
• Then, analyze the rhyme scheme.
• In the first stanza:
• "night" (a), "skies" (b), "bright" (a), "eyes" (b), "light" (a), "denies" (b).
• In the second stanza:
• "less" (a), "grace" (b), "tress" (a), "face" (b), "express" (a), "place" (b).
• In the third stanza:
• "brow" (a), "eloquent" (b), "glow" (a), "spent" (b), "below" (a), "innocent" (b).

Answer:

B. 6 line stanzas in an ababab rhyme scheme