Aboard at a ship’s helm,
A young steersman steering with care.
Through fog on a sea-coast dolefully ringing,
An ocean-bell—O a warning bell, rock’d by the waves.
O you give good notice indeed, you bell by the sea-reefs ringing,
Ringing, ringing, to warn the ship from its wreck-place.
For as on the alert O steersman, you mind the loud admonition,
The bows turn, the freighted ship tacking speeds away under her gray sails,
The beautiful and noble ship with all her precious wealth speeds away ly
and safe.
But O the ship, the immortal ship! O ship aboard the ship!
Ship of the body, ship of the soul, voyaging, voyaging, voyaging.
This is the poem I have to answer a few questions on. Here are the questions, please just help me decide whether or not the answers I chose are correct.
1. In the first stanza of the Whitman poem, the speaker describes:
a. the fear in the heart of an inexperienced sailor.
b. a rocky shore that inevitably wrecks ships.
c. a fog-bound ship approaching a reef.
d. the deceptive nature of many warnings.
MY ANSWER: Now I'm not exactly sure what would be considered the first stanza however I chose C. Would you agree?
2. In the last two lines of the Whitman poem, the speaker suggests that:
a. all dangers can be avoided if we heed the warnings.
b. ocean voyages are filled with excitement.
c. the ship is loaded with pirated gold.
d. the human soul faces a difficult life journey.
MY ANSWER: I chose D.
I agree with both of your answers.
Thank you so much (:
You're very welcome.
1. In the first stanza of the Whitman poem, the speaker describes:
a. the fear in the heart of an inexperienced sailor.
b. a rocky shore that inevitably wrecks ships.
c. a fog-bound ship approaching a reef.
d. the deceptive nature of many warnings.
While the first stanza is not explicitly mentioned, based on the given lines "Aboard at a ship’s helm, A young steersman steering with care. Through fog on a sea-coast dolefully ringing," we can infer that the speaker is describing a fog-bound ship approaching a reef (option c). Therefore, your answer of C is correct.
2. In the last two lines of the Whitman poem, the speaker suggests that:
a. all dangers can be avoided if we heed the warnings.
b. ocean voyages are filled with excitement.
c. the ship is loaded with pirated gold.
d. the human soul faces a difficult life journey.
The last two lines of the poem are "But O the ship, the immortal ship! O ship aboard the ship! Ship of the body, ship of the soul, voyaging, voyaging, voyaging." Based on these lines, the speaker suggests that the human soul faces a difficult life journey (option d). Therefore, your answer of D is correct.