Love Poem

In lines 12-13, sentence fragments and a stanza break are used to

• provide an ironic counterpoint to those lines' discussion of the speaker's faults

• reinforce those lines' description of the beloved's relationship to space and time

• mirror the glasses and vases broken by the beloved in the first stanza

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

The second and fourth stanza are similar in that they both

• present feelings toward the beloved that the speaker rejects at the end of the poem

• reinforce the notion that the speaker's beloved cannot cope with the modern world

• describe qualities of the speaker's beloved that compensate for shortcomings discussed in other stanzas

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.7

CCSS.RI.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.8.7

CCSS.RL.9-10.7

The hyperbole in the closing sentence (lines 23-24) best conveys the speaker's

• affection toward the beloved's cluminess

• criticism of the beloved's many shortcomings

• distress at imagining the beloved's death

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

In the poem, subtle allusions to idiomatic expressions, such as "bulls in china" (line 3) and "A wrench in clocks" (line 13) mainly serve to

• highlight the severity of the beloved's shortcomings

• disclose a secret between the speaker and his beloved

• echo language typically found in classical poetry

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Throughout the poem, the imagery emphasizes a contrast between the beloved's

• worldly ambitions and private anxieties

• fickle personality and basic good-heartedness

• physical awkwardness and emotional dexterity

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

The poem as a whole can best be understood as the speaker encouraging his beloved to

• reconsider her rejection of him

• join him in a new endeavor

• continue being herself

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

The personification in the fifth stanza (lines 17-20) voices the speaker's attitude to his "dear" as

• genuine alarm

• amused adoration

• elaborate condenscension

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

In the context, the speaker's use of the word "traffic" (line 15) evokes both the street scenes described in lines 9-12 and the beloved's

• skilled exchanges of ideas in conversation

• slowness to understand the meaning of a joke

• willingness to travel to be with people she loves

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9