1 The ink is dry, a faded iron brown,
2 Locked in the grammar of a forgotten tongue.
3 I trace the syntax, wearing down the noun,
4 To find what songs the buried choir sung.
5 For hours, the lexicon is my sole guide,
6 Through cases, tenses, declensions of the dead,
7 Where ancient kings and silent gods abide,
8 And history hangs by a fragile thread.
9 But here, beneath a margin damp with age,
10 A sudden smudge of hurried soot appears:
11 A scribe’s brief comment scrawled across the page—
12 'The night is cold, and I am full of fears.'
13 The lexicon falls silent on the desk;
14 The kings depart their dry and dusty tombs.
15 No longer distant, formal, or grotesque,
16 A living voice breathes in these quiet rooms.
In the poem provided, the speaker’s relationship with the ancient manuscript undergoes a significant transition beginning in line 9 ("But here..."). Which of the following best describes how this shift is developed?
- It moves from an objective, scholarly examination of historical grammar to a subjective, emotional identification with the scribe.Answer
- BIt shifts from the poet's autobiographical reflection on their own writing process to an imaginative reconstruction of a medieval scribe's life.
- CIt transitions from a catalog of formal poetic devices to an expression of frustration over the illegibility of the text.
- DIt shifts from intellectual engagement with a dead language to a literal complaint about the cold temperature of the speaker's own library.
- EIt changes from an appreciation of ancient myths to a rejection of the historical relevance of the manuscript's contents.