Question

Which rhyming couplet from Phillis Wheatley’s “On Imagination” contains an inverted sentence?

Answer 1

In Phillis Wheatley's poem "On Imagination," there is a rhyming couplet that contains an inverted sentence. The couplet is: "Prophet of Nature the bright visions [Dell],/Rise on your sight high waving woods and [Ellen]." The purpose of the inversion is to maintain rhyme and create a more rhythmic and lyrical effect in the poem.

Step-by-step explanation:

In Phillis Wheatley's poem "On Imagination," the rhyming couplet that contains an inverted sentence is: "Prophet of Nature the bright visions [dell],/Rise on your sight high waving woods and [ellen]." In this couplet, the usual word order is changed to maintain rhyme, with the object "visions" placed before the verb "rise." This poetic inversion creates a more rhythmic and lyrical effect in the poem.

Answer 2

I think the rhyming couplet that contains an inverted sentence is

"THY various works, imperial queen, we see,
How bright their forms! how deck'd with pomp
by thee!
Thy wond'rous acts in beauteous order stand,
And all attest how potent is thine hand."

because a rhyming couplet contains two lines of the same length that rhyme and complete one thought, and an inverted sentence is a sentence in which the normal word order is being reverted with the verb before the subject with the predicate coming right after a clause.