Read the following poem carefully before choosing your answer:
The dial stands upon the terrace lawn,
A silent scribe of shadows and the sun;
It counted hours from the golden dawn,
Before the crawling ivy had begun
To bind its bronze and choke the Roman script.
Once, lovers came to read the fleeting day
Where now the shade of weeping ash is dipped,
And heavy moss has worn the glyphs away.
Yet look! A sudden wind disrupts the leaves,
Unveiling for a moment, sharp and clear,
A single line the rusted gnomon cleaves—
*I count but sunny hours*—written here.
The darkness crawls, but cannot quite erase
The stubborn promise etched upon its face.
Which of the following best describes the transition in tone between the octet (lines –) and the sestet (lines –)?
- Ascholarly curiosity to aesthetic appreciation
- elegiac resignation to sudden reassuranceAnswer
- Cnostalgic yearning to apprehensive dread
- Dimpartial observation to profound despair
- Eautobiographical reflection to historical documentation
Answer
The transition from elegiac resignation to sudden reassurance
The correct answer identifies the shift from the somber, accepting tone of the first eight lines—which describe the sundial's decay and the loss of its function to time and nature—to a tone of sudden reassurance when the wind reveals the hopeful inscription. This transition matches the thematic turn in line 9, where the speaker finds enduring meaning despite the encroaching shadows.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Identifying and analyzing the thematic function of a tonal shift and structural contrast within a poem.