Before we answer this question, let’s make sure we understand the definition of each pair.
Quatrain - A stanza with four lines. It usually has a rhyme that is the same in the last letter of every line. Here’s an example of a quatrain from "Stopping by Woods On a Snowy Evening" By Robert Frost.
<em>"He gives his harness bells a shake</em>
<em> </em>
<em>To ask if there’s some mistake.</em>
<em> </em>
<em>The only other sound’s the sweep</em>
<em> </em>
<em>Of easy wind and downy flake."</em>
Couplet - A pair of two lines in a stanza with the same end rhyme. Here’s an example of a couplet from "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Suess.
<em>"I do not like green eggs and ham</em>
<em> </em>
<em>I do not like them </em><em>Sam</em><em> I am."</em>
Octave - A stanza with eight lines in it. Here’s an example of an octave from "What is life?" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
<em>"Resembles Life what once was held of Light,</em>
<em> </em>
<em>Too ample in itself for human sight?</em>
<em> </em>
<em>An absolute Self, an element ungrounded</em>
<em> </em>
<em>All, that we see, all </em><em>colours</em><em> of all shade</em>
<em> </em>
<em>By encroach of darkness made?</em>
<em> </em>
<em>Is very life by consciousness unbounded?</em>
<em> </em>
<em>And all the thoughts, pains, joys of mortal breath,</em>
<em> </em>
<em>A war-embrace of wrestling Life and Death?"</em>
Sestet - Usually the last six lines of a sonnet. Here’s an example of a sestet from "When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be" by John Keats
<em>"And when I feel, fair creature of an hour!</em>
<em> </em>
<em>That I shall never look upon thee more,</em>
<em> </em>
<em>Never have relish in the faery power</em>
<em> </em>
<em>Of unreflecting love! — then on the shore</em>
<em> </em>
<em>Of the wide </em><em>world</em><em> I stand </em><em>alone,</em><em> and think</em>
<em> </em>
<em>Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink."</em>
Now that we all understand the definitions and have read a few examples, let’s match each tile to its pair.
The tile from <em>"Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe </em> should be paired with sestet.
The tile from <em>"In Memoriam" by Alfred Lord Tennyson </em> should be paired with quatrain.
The tile from <em>"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost </em> should be paired with octave.
The tile from <em>"Hero and Leander" by Christopher </em><em>Marlowe</em> should be paired with couplet.
- Marlon Nunez
