mark the syllables, separate the feet with short vertical lines, and indicate the rhyme scheme on the following lines:
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.
To mark the syllables, you need to pay attention to the stressed and unstressed syllables in each line. Stress refers to the emphasis placed on a particular syllable when speaking. Generally, stressed syllables are pronounced with slightly more volume and length compared to unstressed syllables.
Let's mark the syllables in the lines you provided:
"That time of year thou mayst in me behold"
|| / | / | / | / | / | /
"When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang"
/ / | / | / / | / | / | /
"Upon those boughs which shake against the cold"
/ | / | / / | / / | / | /
"Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang"
/ / | / | / | / | / | / |
In poetry, feet are units of rhythm that consist of one stressed syllable and one or two unstressed syllables. The vertical lines separate each foot.
Let's separate the feet with short vertical lines in the lines you provided:
"That time of year thou mayst in me be|h0ld"
"When yellow leaves, or |none, or few, do |hang"
"Upon |those boughs which |shake against the |cold"
"Bare |ruined |choirs where |late the |sweet birds |sang"
Finally, let's indicate the rhyme scheme. In this case, the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD.
"That time of year thou mayst in me behold" (A)
"When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang" (B)
"Upon those boughs which shake against the cold" (A)
"Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang" (B)
By following these steps, you can mark the syllables, separate the feet, and indicate the rhyme scheme of a poem.