In the excerpt from "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar, the poet uses a rhyme scheme. You can see that the end words of the lines follow a specific pattern of rhyme. For example, "cries" rhymes with "otherwise," and "vile" rhymes with "mile." Each pair of lines creates a rhyme, contributing to the overall musical quality of the poem.
Read the excerpt from "We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
Which structural element does the poet use in this excerpt?
rhyme scheme
repeated line
couplet
quatrain
1 answer
1 answer