Question

Read the excerpt from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. What type of poem structure is found in this excerpt?

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


A. lyric
B. free verse
C. blank verse
D. haiku

Answer 1

A. lyric

Lyric poem structure has both rhythm and rhyme. Each of the lines have end rhyme - the last word of the line rhymes with the last word of another line. Deep, keep and sleep all rhyme. It also has rhythm. Rhythm is created through a pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables. The other options are simply not correct. Free verse poetry does not rhyme or have meter (rhythm). Blank verse has meter but no rhyme. A haiku is a very specific structure of 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second 7 syllables, and the last 5 syllables.

Answer 2

The correct answer is A.

This stanza is a lyric poem because it has rhythm and rhyme. It does not fit the structure of a haiku, so D. can be eliminated. Furthermore, free and blank verse do not rhyme, as this excerpt does. Therefore, this can only be a lyric poem.