Use the poem to answer the question.
(1) We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
(2) We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
(3) We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
Which of the following describes a difference among these three stanzas of “Recuerdo”?
(1 point)
Responses
A. The first two lines repeat in each stanza.
B. Only one stanza details the narrator's day.
C. There are three pairs of rhyming lines in only two stanzas.
D. A new character is introduced at the end.
B. Only one stanza details the narrator's day.
To answer this question, we need to analyze the three stanzas of the poem "Recuerdo" by Edna St. Vincent Millay and identify a difference among them.
In stanza (1), the narrator describes being tired and merry after traveling back and forth on a ferry all night. They mention looking into a fire, leaning across a table, and lying on a hill-top underneath the moon. The stanza ends with the whistles blowing and the dawn arriving.
Stanza (2) repeats the first two lines from stanza (1) and continues the narrative. The narrator and another person eat apples and pears they bought somewhere. The sky turns wan, the wind becomes cold, and the sun rises, described as a bucketful of gold.
Stanza (3) once again repeats the first two lines, emphasizing the tiredness and merriment of the narrator and the other person after their night on the ferry. They greet a shawl-covered head, buy a morning paper they don't read, and give their remaining money to the woman, except for their subway fares. She blesses them for the apples and pears.
Analyzing the stanzas, we can see that:
- Option A, "The first two lines repeat in each stanza", is true. The first two lines are repeated in all three stanzas.
- Option B, "Only one stanza details the narrator's day", is false. The narrative about the narrator's experiences is present in all three stanzas.
- Option C, "There are three pairs of rhyming lines in only two stanzas", is false. All three stanzas have a consistent rhyme scheme.
- Option D, "A new character is introduced at the end", is true. The woman with the shawl-covered head is introduced in the third stanza, and the narrator and the other person interact with her.
Therefore, the correct answer is D. A new character is introduced at the end.