Learning Together
Rhyme scheme and interjections
Learn about the poem's rhyme scheme, and what interjections are.
Three small things about how 'Try Again' is built. Each is useful for any poem you read!
1. Rhyme scheme. Look at the first stanza's line endings:
| Line | Last word | Label |
|---|---|---|
| King Bruce of Scotland flung himself down | down | A |
| In a lonely mood to think; | think | B |
| 'Tis true he was monarch, and wore a crown, | crown | A |
| But his heart was beginning to sink. | sink | B |
Down rhymes with crown, think with sink. So the rhyme scheme is ABAB. (In AABB, lines rhyme in pairs; in ABBA, the outer two and the inner two rhyme.)
2. Interjections. When the King cries "Bravo, bravo!" he isn't stating a fact or asking a question; he's letting out a sudden feeling. A word used like that is an interjection, usually with an exclamation mark. "Ah me!" in the poem is another.
An interjection isn't a conjunction (which joins words) or an adjective (which describes). It stands on its own and carries feeling.
3. Odd spellings. The poet writes 'twas for 'it was' and 'tis for 'it is'. Why?
For the rhythm. Every line has a beat, and 'it was' has one syllable too many for its spot. Squeezing it to 'twas keeps the beat. The apostrophe shows the missing letter, just like in don't.
Practise this lesson
Questions that get harder as you improve, a Tutor that helps without giving the answer away, and progress you can see. Free for every learner.
No account, no email address. Opens the real product.