Question

pretest: unit 6
read the following excerpt from \a love song\ by william carlos williams:
what have i to say to you
when we shall meet?
yet—
i lie here thinking of you.

the stain of love
is upon the world.
yellow, yellow, yellow,
it eats into the leaves,
smears with saffron
the horned branches that lean
heavily
against a smooth purple sky.

how does this excerpt best illustrate modernist ideals?

a. its speaker is describing the depressing change from fall to winter.

b. its speaker has created a fantasy world that only exists in his own mind.

c. its speaker has never had anyone with whom to share his love.

d. its speaker is surrounded by love that he himself cannot enjoy.

Explanation:

Modernist literature often focuses on alienation, unfulfilled emotion, and the gap between internal experience and external reality. This poem shows the speaker is surrounded by the "stain of love" visible in the world, yet he can only lie thinking of the person he loves, unable to connect or enjoy that love directly. Option A is incorrect as the focus is not on seasonal depression; Option B is wrong because the setting is a real, observed world, not a fantasy; Option C is untrue because the speaker is thinking of a specific person he will meet.

Answer:

D. Its speaker is surrounded by love that he himself cannot enjoy.