Question

read the excerpt from ovids \pyramus and thisbe\.
and may you, mulberry, whose boughs now shade
one wretched body and will soon shade two,
forever bear these darkly colored fruits
as signs of our sad end
what statement best describes the use of poetic
elements in the excerpt?
a simile compares a tree to death.
a tree is given symbolic meaning.
thisbe delivers a rhythmic song.
ovid uses patterned rhyme.

Explanation:

In the excerpt, the mulberry tree is given symbolic meaning. It is associated with the tragic end (as signs of the sad end) and the bodies of Pyramus and Thisbe. Symbolism is a common poetic element where an object represents something beyond its literal meaning. There is no mention of a rhythmic song (no indication of a song-like rhythm), no simile (a simile uses "like" or "as" to compare, and there is no such structure here comparing a tree to death in a simile form), and there is no clear indication of patterned rhyme (no consistent rhyme scheme is obvious from the short excerpt).

Answer:

A tree is given symbolic meaning.