Select the option with same rhyme scheme as lines in Stanza 1 :
(A) They are all gone away,
The House is shut and still,
There is nothing more to say.
(B) Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers.
(C) The dog chased the ball down the lane,
He ran with such incredible speed,
His tail was a blur, a joyful glee.
(D) The Sun is high,
The clouds drift past,
In the blue sky which is so vast.
Select the option with same rhyme scheme as lines in Stanza 1 :
(A) They are all gone away,
The House is shut and still,
There is nothing more to say.
(B) Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers.
(C) The dog chased the ball down the lane,
He ran with such incredible speed,
His tail was a blur, a joyful glee.
(D) The Sun is high,
The clouds drift past,
In the blue sky which is so vast.
Options
(B) — Longfellow's 'A Psalm of Life' ('Tell me not... slumbers') follows the same alternating ABAB rhyme scheme (lines 1 & 3, lines 2 & 4) as Stanza 1 of 'How to Tell Wild Animals'.
Marking Scheme
- 11 mark: awarded only for selecting option (B); no partial credit in MCQs.
Hint
Mark the end-rhyming letters (A, B, C…) for every line before comparing options — don't judge rhyme scheme from just two lines.
Quick Oral Answer
The stanza's rhyme scheme is ABABCC — lines 1 & 3 rhyme, lines 2 & 4 rhyme, and the last two lines form a closing couplet; Longfellow's ABAB quatrain in option B matches this alternating pattern.
Analysis & Explanation
Only option (B) reproduces the poem's full alternating-plus-couplet rhyme pattern, not just a partial rhyme.
Concept
- Stanza 1 of 'How to Tell Wild Animals' rhymes: prey(A)–nonplus(B)–may(A)–thus(B)–smiles(C)–crocodiles(C) → scheme ABABCC (an alternating quatrain followed by a rhyming couplet).
Option-by-option check
- (A) 'The House on the Hill': away/still/say → ABA tercet, not an alternating quatrain.
- (B) Longfellow's 'A Psalm of Life': numbers/dream/slumbers/seem → ABAB, matching the target's alternating base pattern.
- (C) lane/speed/glee → no true end rhyme; unrhymed free verse.
- (D) past/vast (lines 2–3) with line 1 unrhymed → ABB, the reverse of the target pattern.
Common Mistakes
- Checking only whether line 1 rhymes with line 3 and stopping there — several options loosely satisfy that. The FULL alternating pattern across all four (or six) lines must be verified before selecting an answer.
Common Mistakes
- 1Choosing option (A) because its 1st and 3rd lines rhyme, without checking that its actual pattern is a refrain-based ABA tercet, not an alternating ABAB quatrain.
- 2Assuming any 3-line excerpt showing some rhyme is a match, instead of tracing the rhyme letters systematically across the whole given stanza.
- 3Ignoring that option (C) has no rhyme at all and mistakenly picking it because the lines are of similar length.
Interesting Facts
'How to Tell Wild Animals' by Carolyn Wells (1862–1942) is written almost entirely in comic ABABCC-style stanzas, a hallmark of light/nonsense verse popular in early 20th-century American humour magazines.
Longfellow's 'A Psalm of Life' (1838) uses the alternating ABAB rhyme scheme throughout all nine stanzas, making it one of the most quoted examples of that pattern in English textbooks.
Edwin Arlington Robinson's 'The House on the Hill' (1897), the source of option A, is technically a villanelle-influenced poem built on just two repeating rhyme sounds across the whole piece.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the rhyme scheme of Stanza 1 of 'How to Tell Wild Animals'?
It is ABABCC — an alternating quatrain (prey/may, nonplus/thus) followed by a rhyming couplet (smiles/crocodiles).
Why isn't option (A) correct even though its first and third lines rhyme?
Option (A) is a refrain-based tercet with an ABA pattern (from 'The House on the Hill'), which is structurally different from the alternating ABAB quatrain seen in Stanza 1.