Question

Identify the type of couplet: “The grave's a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.”

• A. Octasyllabic
• B. Pentasyllabic
• C. Decasyllabic
• D. Monosyllabic

Hint:

Octasyllabic means having eight syllables in a line.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1 : Understanding the Question:
This question asks us to identify the syllabic type of the given rhyming couplet taken from Andrew Marvell's poem "To His Coy Mistress".

Step 2 : Key Formulas and Approach:
The approach involves scanning the poetic lines and counting the number of syllables in each line to determine the poetic meter.

Step 3 : Detailed Explanation:

• The first line of the couplet is: "The grave's a fine and private place". Scanning the syllables: The (1) grave's (2) a (3) fine (4) and (5) pri- (6) vate (7) place (8). This line consists of exactly eight syllables.

• The second line is: "But none, I think, do there embrace". Scanning the syllables: But (1) none, (2) I (3) think, (4) do (5) there (6) em- (7) brace (8). This line also consists of exactly eight syllables.

• In English poetry, a line containing eight syllables is classified as octasyllabic, and a couplet of such lines is called an octasyllabic couplet.

• This is the standard meter of "To His Coy Mistress", written in iambic tetrameter, which naturally has eight syllables per line, distinguishing it from decasyllabic (ten-syllable) or pentasyllabic (five-syllable) lines.

Step 4 : Final Answer:
The given couplet is octasyllabic.
The correct option is (A) Octasyllabic.