Test your understanding of rhyme, meter, and the graphic elements of verse by reading Wordsworth’s poem once more and answering the questions that follow.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth to me the show had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Now that you’ve learned to analyze rhyme, meter, and graphic elements in verse, read Charles Ghinga’s description of a poem. Do you recognize the rhyme scheme, end-stopped lines, and run-on lines? Do feel the rhythm (meter) and hear rhyme in his definition? Ghinga captures all we’ve discussed in this lesson in one short poem!
A whisper,
a shout,
thoughts turned
inside out.
A laugh,
a sigh,
an echo
passing by.
A rhythm,
a rhyme,
a moment
caught in time.
A moon,
a star,
a glimpse
of who you are.