He smiles into the hayloft dim
and the brown hay smiles back at him,
and when he strokes the earth's green fur
he makes the fields and meadows purr.

which creates the rhythm in these lines?

the repeated image of the cat.

there is no rhythm in these lines because there isn't enough alliteration.

the end rhymes between dim and him and fur and purr create the rhythm.

the expanding metaphor of the cat as the sun.