Question

What is the rhyme scheme in this excerpt from the poem "The Voice" by Thomas Hardy?

Can it be you that I hear? Let me view you, then, standing as when I drew near to the town where you would wait for me: Yes, as I knew you then, even to the original air-blue gown! Or is it only the breeze, in its listlessness traveling across the wet mead to me here, you being ever dissolved to wan wistfulness, heard no more again far or near? Thus 1, faltering forward, leaves around me falling. Wind oozing thin through the thorn from norward, and the woman calling.

Options:
a. AABB
b. ABAB
c. OOC
d. AOBA ABCA

Answer 1

The rhyme scheme in Thomas Hardy's "The Voice" has a pattern of ABAB CDCD, characterized by alternating indents and a refrain at the end of each stanza.

Step-by-step explanation:

The rhyme scheme in the excerpt from the poem "The Voice" by Thomas Hardy is a little complex and does not conform to the simpler patterns like AABB or ABAB. Instead, the excerpt shows a pattern of ABAB CDCD. The indented lines hint at the lines that rhyme with each other, with the indentations normally alternating, except for a couplet in the middle of the stanza. Furthermore, Hardy utilizes a refrain at the end of each stanza which contributes to the overarching mood of the poem.