Final answer:
To determine the rhyme pattern and meter of a poem, one must scan for stressed and unstressed syllables and note the rhyme scheme. A quatrain with the ABCB rhyme scheme is common in ballads. Iambic pentameter and trochaic tetrameter are among several types of meter based on the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Step-by-step explanation:
To classify the rhyme pattern and identify the meter of a poem, one must analyze the rhythmical pattern or meter by scanning the lines for stressed ('/') and unstressed ('x') syllables. This process involves identifying poetic feet (a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables) and counting them to determine the line length in terms of meter.
A quatrain is the most common stanza form with four lines and common rhyme schemes like AABB, ABAB, AABA, and ABCB. The ABCB scheme is particularly prominent in ballads, with alternating lines of different syllable counts. The rhyme scheme can be represented with letters where lines that rhyme share the same letter.
In terms of meter, we have various types such as iambic pentameter, where there are five iambic feet per line, and trochaic tetrameter, which consists of four trochaic feet per line. An iamb is a foot with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, while a trochee is the opposite. Anapestic and dactylic meters also exist with different patterns of stresses and unstressed syllables.