Question

I am all alone in the house to-night;

They would not have gone away

Had they known of the terrible, bloodless fight

I have held with my heart to-day.

With the old sweet love and the old fierce pain

I have battled hour by hour;

But the fates have willed that the strife is vain.

Alone in the hour my thoughts have reign,

And I yield myself to their power.

Question
How does the rhyme and meter in the stanzas affect the meaning?
Responses

They mimic the speaker's emotions by creating a chaotic pattern.
They mimic the speaker's emotions by creating a chaotic pattern. - no response given

They contradict the speaker's struggle by creating a songlike pattern.
They contradict the speaker's struggle by creating a songlike pattern. - no response given

They follow sonnet form to suggest the importance of the speaker's struggle.
They follow sonnet form to suggest the importance of the speaker's struggle. - no response given

They use iambic pentameter to highlight the speaker's back-and-forth thoughts.
They use iambic pentameter to highlight the speaker's back-and-forth thoughts. - no response given

Answer 1

They contradict the speaker's struggle by creating a songlike pattern.

Explanation: the poem uses repeated end-rhymes and regular sound patterns (an ABAB feel in the first four lines, repeated rhymes like pain/vain/reign, and repeated phrases such as “hour by hour”), producing a lyrical, sing-song quality. That outward musical order contrasts with the speaker’s inner turmoil, heightening the sense of conflict between calm form and violent feeling.