Which statements describe the last two lines of a Shakespearean sonnet? Select three options.

The details are as follows:

These lines are known as a couplet.

They exhibit rhyme.

They alter the rhythm of the sonnet.

A Shakespearean sonnet consists of fourteen lines divided into three quatrains for the first twelve lines. This is where the poet presents a theme or conflict that is then addressed in the final two lines, termed a couplet. These two lines rhyme with one another and adopt a GG rhyme scheme, whereas the quatrains follow an ABAB CDCD scheme, which modifies the rhythmic flow of the sonnet.

The final two lines of Shakespeare's sonnets can be summarized with these three points:

- These lines form a couplet: two rhyming lines that follow one another.

- They generally rhyme with each other, although exceptions can occur.

- They alter the rhythm of the sonnet: a Shakespearean sonnet consists of 14 lines, with the initial 12 divided into three quatrains of four lines each, where the theme and issue are introduced. The rhyme pattern here is abab cdcd efef, which is concluded in the final two lines that rhyme as gg.

For instance:

When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the TIME (Sonnet 12)

When IN / dis GRACE / with FOR / tune AND / men's EYES

I ALL / a LONE / be WEEP / my OUT/ cast STATE (Sonnet 29)

Shall I / com PARE/ thee TO / a SUM / mer's DAY?

Thou ART / more LOVE / ly AND / more TEM / per ATE (Sonnet 18)