The first four lines of the Shakespearian sonnet rhyme

Analyze the question: It asks about the rhyme scheme of the first four lines (the first quatrain) of a Shakespearean sonnet.

Concept: A Shakespearean (English) sonnet has 14 lines in this structure:

• Quatrain 1: abab
• Quatrain 2: cdcd
• Quatrain 3: efef
• Final couplet: gg

So the full scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. Don't confuse it with the Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet, whose octave rhymes abba abba.

Solution:

1. The question asks only about the first four lines, which is the first quatrain.
2. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the first quatrain alternates its rhymes: line 1 rhymes with line 3, and line 2 rhymes with line 4. That gives abab.
3. Checking the options: • A. abcd has no rhyme pattern, so it is wrong. • B. abba is the Petrarchan pattern, so it is wrong. • C. abab is correct. • D. cdcd is the second quatrain, not the first four lines, so it is wrong.

Example from Sonnet 18:

• "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (a)
• Thou art more lovely and more temperate: (b)
• Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (a)
• And summer's lease hath all too short a date; (b)"

Day/May rhyme (a), and temperate/date rhyme (b), so the pattern is abab.

Answer: C

Exam tip: Remember "Shakespeare alternates": abab, cdcd, efef, gg. If you see abba, think Petrarchan.