The West Wind

It’s a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds’ cries;
I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes.
For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills,
And April’s in the west wind, and daffodils.
It’s a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine;
Apple orchards blossom there, and the airs’ like wine.
There is cool green grass there where men may lie at rest;
And the thrushes are in song there, fluting from their nest…
Answer the following questions about the poem, “The West Wind.”
1. What is the rhyme scheme?
A. aabbaacc
B. abababab
C. aabbccdd
D. abbcbccd
* I think it's C. but some websites say it's B. but I don't know why. Can someone explain?

You're right, it's C.

cries, eyes >> aa
hills, daffodils >> bb
mine, wine >> cc
rest, nest >> dd

The correct answer is B. abababab. The poem follows a consistent pattern of eight lines with alternating rhymes. In stanza one, the end rhymes are cries/eyes and hills/daffodils. In stanza two, the end rhymes are mine/wine and rest/nest. This pattern continues throughout the poem, creating a consistent rhyme scheme of ABABABAB.

To determine the rhyme scheme of a poem, we need to identify the pattern of end rhymes in each stanza. Let's examine the poem "The West Wind" to find its rhyme scheme.

First, let's label each line with a letter to represent its end rhyme. I will use uppercase letters for lines that rhyme with each other and lowercase letters for lines that do not rhyme:

A It’s a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds’ cries;
B I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes.
A For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills,
B And April’s in the west wind, and daffodils.

C It’s a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine;
D Apple orchards blossom there, and the airs’ like wine.
C There is cool green grass there where men may lie at rest;
D And the thrushes are in song there, fluting from their nest…

From this analysis, we can see that the first stanza has an ABAB rhyme scheme, and the second stanza follows a CDCD scheme. Therefore, the correct answer to the question is D. abbcbccd.

It's worth noting that confusion might arise because the phrase "the west wind" is repeated at the beginning of two lines. However, the repetition does not indicate a rhyme, as rhyming words must occur at the end of the lines.