Rhyme Scheme and Rhythm in a Sonnet by William Shakespeare

Question 1

In the first quatrain, the speaker is comparing

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his beloved and a summer day.

Question 2

Use the poem to complete the sentences.

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✔ quatrain; The first four lines of the poem make up a.: quatrain; The last two lines of the poem make up a.: couplet

Question 3

Reread the first six lines of the sonnet. If the first line is identified as “a” in the rhyme scheme, how should the remaining lines be identified?

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✔ b; Thou art more lovely and more temperate:: b; Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,: a; And summer's lease hath all too short a date:: b; Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,: c; And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,: d

Question 4

Read the second quatrain of the sonnet, and then answer the questions below.

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✔ The sun is sometimes too hot or dim.; What is the best paraphrase of the first two lines?: The sun is sometimes too hot or dim.; Beauty eventually fades.

Question 5

What is the central idea of the first quatrain?

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The speaker’s beloved is more beautiful than a summer day.

Question 6

Which statement best expresses the central idea of the third quatrain?

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Your beauty will never fade, because you will live forever in the lines of this poem.

Question 7

In one to two sentences, explain the central idea of the final couplet of the poem.

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The central idea of the final couplet is that the speaker’s love for his mistress is genuine and and that she is just as beautiful as any woman described with exaggerated, false comparisons. He emphasizes that a realistic love is more valuable than one based on unrealistic or fake perceptions.

Question 8

What did you include in your response? Check all that apply.The speaker’s beloved lives on in the poem.People will live on to read the poem.The speaker’s beloved will be remembered in poetry.This poem is a tribute to the speaker’s beloved.

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The speaker’s beloved lives on in the poem.; People will live on to read the poem.; The speaker’s beloved will be remembered in poetry.; This poem is a tribute to the speaker’s beloved.

Rhyme Scheme and Rhythm in a Sonnet by William Shakespeare Answers

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