Question

read the poem.
there are 20 lines in the poem. the poem is numbered every 5 lines.
from summer magic
so many cares to vex the day,
so many fears to haunt the night,
my heart was all but weaned away
from every lure of old delight.
then summer came, announced by june,
with beauty, miracle and mirth.
she hung aloft the rounding moon,
she poured her sunshine on the earth,
she drove the sap and broke the bud,
she set the crimson rose afire.
she stirred again my sullen blood,
and waked in me a new desire.
before my cottage door she spread
the softest carpet nature weaves,
and deftly arched above my head
a canopy of shady leaves.
her nights were dreams of jeweled skies,
her days were bowers rife with song,
and many a scheme did she devise
to heal the hurt and soothe the wrong.
(from \summer magic\ by leslie pinckney hill)

1. the speaker longs for summer to make the sun shine and the plants grow.
2. troubles will return, but summer lets the speaker forget them for a short time.
3. the speaker gains a feeling of happiness when summer makes the earth beautiful.
4. for the first time, the speaker notices the many changes brought by the summer season.

part b
which excerpt from the poem best supports the correct answer from part a?

1. \she drove the sap and broke the bud, she set the crimson rose afire.\ (lines 9 - 10)
2. \before my cottage door she spread the softest carpet nature weaves,\ (lines 13 - 14)
3. \and deftly arched above my head\

Explanation:

• Part A:
• Option 1: The poem does not focus on the speaker longing for summer to make the sun shine and plants grow. The speaker seems to already have summer.
• Option 2: The poem shows that the speaker had cares and fears ("So many cares to vex the day, So many fears to haunt the night"), but summer brought beauty, miracle, and mirth. This implies that troubles will return, but summer allows the speaker to forget them for a while.
• Option 3: While the poem describes summer's beauty, the main idea is more about summer helping the speaker forget troubles rather than just gaining happiness from beauty.
• Option 4: There is no indication that it's the first - time the speaker notices summer's changes.
• Part B:
• Option 1: This excerpt focuses on summer's actions on nature (sap, bud, rose) but doesn't directly relate to forgetting troubles.
• Option 2: This excerpt shows summer's beauty (the carpet of nature) which can be a part of the reason summer helps the speaker forget troubles. It supports the idea that summer provides a pleasant environment that can make one forget worries.
• Option 3: This excerpt only describes the canopy of leaves and doesn't support the idea of forgetting troubles as well as Option 2.

Answer:

Part A: 2. Troubles will return, but summer lets the speaker forget them for a short time.
Part B: 2. "Before my cottage door she spread The softest carpet nature weaves," (Lines 13 - 14)