Alliteration, rhyme, repetition and poem forms

Grade 7 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Ferry at Dawn (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The ferry leaves at half past five,
   [2] while sleepy gulls still keep the shore.
   [3] A captain checks the rope and bell
   [4] and calls, “All aboard once more!”

   Stanza 2
   [5] A baker climbs on, then a nurse,
   [6] a girl who hums a tune.
   [7] They watch the harbor lights go pale
   [8] beneath the fading moon.

   Stanza 3
   [9] Midway across, the fog comes down
   [10] and hides the other side.
   [11] The captain rings the bell again,
   [12] and slow, we drift and glide.

   Stanza 4
   [13] Then, faint, a bell rings back from far,
   [14] a thin and silver sound.
   [15] The captain steers toward its ring,
   [16] and soon the dock is found.

   Stanza 5
   [17] The ferry leaves at half past five,
   [18] while sleepy gulls still keep the shore.
   [19] A captain checks the rope and bell
   [20] and listens, now, for one bell more.
   Annotations: circle repeated sounds and end rhymes; mark each stanza.

2. 1.

   Kira checks the end words of stanza 1. Which choice names the form and the rhyme pattern that shows it?

   • Ballad: a story told in five four-line stanzas, with the first stanza coming back at the end.
   • Ballad: a story told in four-line stanzas, where lines 1 and 3 rhyme with each other.
   • Couplets: a story told in rhyming pairs, where lines 1 and 2 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme.
   • Ballad: a story told in four-line stanzas, where lines 2 and 4 rhyme and lines 1 and 3 do not.
3. 2.

   Luz compares line 20 with line 4. What does the changed last line add to the repeated opening?

   • It shows the ferry will sail into fog each day, so the passengers are right to feel afraid.
   • It repeats shore and more as end rhymes again, so the last stanza keeps the same rhyme pattern as the first.
   • It shows the captain forgot the bell, so the foggy crossing changed nothing about the morning for anyone.
   • It shows the captain now listens for another bell, so the fog has changed what the captain expects.
4. 3.

   Milo looks for proof that a bell links the middle of the poem. Which two lines show the captain's bell and the bell that answers?

   • [3] A captain checks the rope and bell + [5] A baker climbs on, then a nurse,
   • [1] The ferry leaves at half past five, + [17] The ferry leaves at half past five,
   • [11] The captain rings the bell again, + [13] Then, faint, a bell rings back from far,
   • [11] The captain rings the bell again, + [9] Midway across, the fog comes down
5. 4.

   Noah circles side and glide in lines 10 and 12. Which choice names the device and what it adds?

   • Rhyme: the two words end with the same sound, which makes the hidden shore and the slow glide feel linked.
   • Rhyme: the two words end with the same sound, which makes the ferry seem to cross a bridge.
   • Alliteration: the two words start with the same sound, which makes the fog seem rough and jagged, like cracked ice.
   • Rhyme: the two words end with the same sound and sit at the ends of lines 10 and 12.
6. 5.

   Pia compares stanza 1 with stanza 5. Which choice says what the matching stanzas add to the poem?

   • The matching stanzas show that the crossing changed nothing, so the ending is exactly like the beginning.
   • The matching stanzas show that the ferry is late, so the captain repeats the same call out of worry.
   • The matching stanzas frame the story, so the crossing sits inside an ordinary morning that returns changed.
   • The matching stanzas make the poem a villanelle, so the ferry trip repeats each morning in a strict pattern.
7. 6.

   Ren looks for rhyme that follows the bell to the dock. Which two lines rhyme with each other and show the bell leading the ferry in?

   • [14] a thin and silver sound. + [16] and soon the dock is found.
   • [3] A captain checks the rope and bell + [11] The captain rings the bell again,
   • [14] a thin and silver sound. + [15] The captain steers toward its ring,
   • [18] while sleepy gulls still keep the shore. + [20] and listens, now, for one bell more.

8. Practice Room (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The metronome ticks like a small hard rain
   [2] on the lid of the piano. I play
   [3] the same eight bars until the notes go flat
   [4] as pennies, and the clock says nothing new.

   Stanza 2
   [5] Then, without warning, a phrase comes loose
   [6] and rolls through the room like a low gold bowl,
   [7] and I forget to count. I forget
   [8] the metronome, the clock, the door, my name.

   Stanza 3
   [9] The ticking keeps on underneath, polite,
   [10] as if it never meant to be the boss.
   [11] I let the last note hang
   [12] and hang,
   [13] and the quiet that comes after
   [14] is the best sound in the room.
   Annotations: circle repeated sounds and end rhymes; mark each stanza.

9. 7.

   Ari thinks about who speaks and how the lines end. Which choice names the form and the clue that shows it?

   • Free-verse lyric: a poem of fourteen lines about a piano, with a metronome as its main object.
   • Free-verse lyric: a speaker shares private feelings, and each stanza has exactly four lines.
   • Free-verse lyric: a speaker shares private feelings, and the lines have no rhyme pattern or regular beat.
   • Sonnet: fourteen lines in a set rhyme pattern, with a turn near the end of the poem.
10. 8.

    Bo looks at lines 11 and 12, with hang set alone on its own line. What does the short line add?

    • Line 12 repeats hang on a line of its own, so the note seems to stretch and linger.
    • Line 12 rhymes with line 10, so the poem seems to snap shut like a lid.
    • Line 12 is shorter than line 11 and begins with the word and, then the poem goes on.
    • Line 12 repeats hang on a line of its own, so the note seems to end at once.
11. 9.

    Esme circles ticks in line 1 and ticking in line 9. Which choice names the device and what it adds?

    • Repetition: the word tick is used in line 1 and used again in line 9 of the poem.
    • Repetition: the tick returns in stanza 3, which shows the speaker has broken the metronome in anger.
    • Repetition: the tick returns in stanza 3, which shows the beat still running beneath the music.
    • Rhyme: ticks and ticking end with matching sounds, which makes the poem sound finished.
12. 10.

    Jun looks for a long o sound that rolls. Which two lines repeat that sound inside their words?

    • [9] The ticking keeps on underneath, polite, + [13] and the quiet that comes after
    • [3] the same eight bars until the notes go flat + [4] as pennies, and the clock says nothing new.
    • [11] I let the last note hang + [12] and hang,
    • [3] the same eight bars until the notes go flat + [6] and rolls through the room like a low gold bowl,