Question

Read the excerpt from the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling. What is the rhyme scheme of this stanza?

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

Answer 1

I can confirm. the answer is B

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

ABABCDCD.

Step-by-step explanation:

The rhyme scheme of a poem means the ordered pattern or structure of the rhymes in the end lines of the poem. In other words, it means the pattern of sounds that are produced by the end words in each line of poetry.

Labeling the end words/ sounds of each line of poetry with the alphabets ABCD, we can dissect the second stanza of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" in the following ways-

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; (A)

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; (B)

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster (A)

And treat those two impostors just the same; (B)

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken (C)

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, (D)

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, (C)

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: (D)

This means that the words "master" and "disaster" have the same end sound while "aim" is the same with "same", and so on.

Thus, the alternating rhymes in the lines produce the pattern ABABCDCD.

Therefore, the rhyme scheme of the given stanza is ABABCDCD.