Question

question 23 of 25
read the following excerpt from
othing gold can stay\ by robert frost:

natures first green is gold,
her hardest hue to hold.
her early leafs a flower;
but only so an hour.
then leaf subsides to leaf.
so eden sank to grief,
so dawn goes down to day.
nothing gold can stay.

which best describes the effect of allusion on the meaning in this excerpt?

a. the author refers to the garden of eden to show that natures
beauty is short - lived.

b. the author describes the garden of versailles to suggest new life
found in leaves and flowers.

c. the author gives eden human characteristics to show how sad it
is when summers beauty fades to autumn.

d. the author compares leaves to gold to suggest that nature has a
monetary value.

Explanation:

An allusion is a reference to a well - known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art. In this poem, the allusion to the Garden of Eden (a place from the Bible that was a perfect, idyllic garden but was lost) is used. The poem is about the transience of beauty. Just as Eden was lost (its beauty was not permanent), nature's beauty (represented by the "first green" which is "gold" and the "early leaf's a flower" that lasts "only so an hour") is short - lived.

• Option B is incorrect because there is no allusion to the Garden of Versailles.
• Option C is incorrect as the allusion to Eden is not about giving it human characteristics in the context of summer to autumn. The poem is more about the general loss of something precious (like Eden's loss and nature's beauty loss).
• Option D is incorrect because the comparison of leaves to gold is a metaphor (a direct comparison) rather than an allusion, and the poem is not about nature's monetary value.

Answer:

A. The author refers to the garden of Eden to show that nature's beauty is short - lived.