Question

What is the rhyming scheme for Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning?

Answer 1

Hint: Sonnet 43' is known as a sonnet because it comprises fourteen lines of poetry.
A Petrarchan sonnet, one of the two main sonnet types, follows this conventional pattern and has a set rhyme scheme of abba abba cdcdcd.

Complete answer:
The figure of speech used in the poem is anaphora—the usage of I love thee in eight lines and I shall but love thee in the final line—is the poem's most prominent figure of expression. This repetition produces a rhythmic pattern while also reinforcing the theme. Browning frequently employs alliteration, as shown by the following examples:

The first eight lines (octave) of Sonnet 43, adopted the Petrarchan Sonnet's Octave segment rhyme scheme, which was ABBA ABBA. The last word "ways," for example, rhymes with "grace" in the fourth line, while the words "height" and "sight" in the second and third lines, respectively, rhyme.

Even though there are similarities in the former lines of the poem to the Petrarchan Sonnet, unlike the sestet of a Petrarchan sonnet (CDE, CDE / CDC, CDC /CDE, DCE), Sonnet 43 has a somewhat different rhyme scheme: CD, CD, CD. The words "use," "lose," and "choose" in the ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth lines, for example, rhyme. The words "faith," "breath," and "death" in the 10th, 12th, and 14th lines, on the other hand, have the same rhythm.

Therefore, in conclusion, the rhyme scheme of the Sonnet can be written as ABBA, ABBA, CD, CD, CD.

Note:
- Sonnet 43 is a part of a collection of 44 sonnets called Sonnets from the Portuguese.
- They were written from 1845-46 and were published in 1850.
- Another famous sonnet from this same collection, is Sonnet Number 33.