Question

read this poem. feet pound pavement as miles pass, steady as tides, they approach their shore, training is tested, strength is stretched— buoyed by the pack, one mile more. sweat streaks, muscles tense, eager for the end, final flags beckon, the crowd grows loud. tested vessels reach their harbor— runners hearts beat proud. which statements describe the poem? select three options. the poem has an abcb rhyme scheme. every line length is the same. each stanza is a quatrain. the poem contains two stanzas. the meter is fixed throughout the poem.

Explanation:

• Quatrain identification: A quatrain is a stanza with four lines. Each stanza in the poem has four lines, so "Each stanza is a quatrain" is correct.
• Stanza count: There are two groups of four - line stanzas, so "The poem contains two stanzas" is correct.
• Rhyme scheme analysis:
• Label the end - words of the first stanza: "pass" (a), "shore" (b), "stretched" (c), "more" (b).
• Label the end - words of the second stanza: "end" (d), "loud" (e), "harbor" (f), "proud" (e). The rhyme scheme is \(abcb\) for the first stanza and \(defe\) for the second. But if we consider the overall structure (assuming a more lenient view of the two - stanza form as having an \(abcb\) - like pattern in each stanza's internal rhyme), we can still analyze.
• The first stanza: line 1 ("pass") - no rhyme with others in the first stanza's first line position in a multi - stanza view; line 2 ("shore") rhymes with line 4 ("more") (\(b\) sound). The second stanza: line 2 ("loud") rhymes with line 4 ("proud") (\(e\) sound). If we consider the two - stanza form as having a kind of \(abcb\) (where the \(b\) in the first stanza and \(e\) in the second are part of a looser \(b\) - like rhyme in a two - stanza structure), we can say the first option is correct.

Answer:

The poem has an \(abcb\) rhyme scheme, Each stanza is a quatrain, The poem contains two stanzas.