Question

read the following poem the reverie of poor susan, by william wordsworth and then answer the questions:
at the corner of wood street, when daylight appears,
hangs a thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years:
poor susan has passed by the spot, and has heard
in the silence of morning the song of the bird.

tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? she sees
a mountain ascending, a vision of trees;
bright volumes of vapour through lothbury glide,
and a river flows on through the vale of cheapside.

green pastures she views in the midst of the dale,
down which she so often has tripped with her pail;
and a single small cottage, a nest like a doves,
the one only dwelling on earth that she loves.

she looks, and her heart is in heaven: but they fade,
the mist and the river, the hill and the shade:
the stream will not flow, and the hill will not rise,
and the colours have all passed away from her eyes!

1. the final lines of the poem (\the colours have all passed away from her eyes\) suggest:

a. susans rejection of her past

b. a change in susans perspective on nature

c. susans acceptance of city life

d. the fleeting nature of happiness

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option a: The poem shows Susan recalling her past (the cottage, pastures) fondly, not rejecting it. So a is incorrect.
• Option b: The lines describe the disappearance of the natural visions, not a change in her perspective on nature itself. She still values the natural scenes. So b is incorrect.
• Option c: The poem focuses on her nostalgic visions of her past home, not accepting city life. The fading of the visions is about the loss of the nostalgic moment, not accepting the city. So c is incorrect.
• Option d: The visions of nature (which bring her happiness, "her heart is in heaven") fade away ("the colours have all passed away from her eyes"), showing that the happiness from those visions is temporary, highlighting the fleeting nature of happiness.

Answer:

d. The fleeting nature of happiness