Question

Trevor has been asked to analyze the rhyme scheme in Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18.”

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd:

Which is the correct rhyme scheme for this stanza?

aabb
abcd
abab
abcc

Answer 1

abab

Lines 1 and 3 rhyme (shines / declines = a) and lines 2 and 4 rhyme (dimm'd / untrimm'd = b).