Question

read the poem. there are several questions about this poem.
there are 52 lines in this poem. the poem is numbered every 5 lines.
nursery rhyme
shut your eyes then
and let us slip
out of the city rain
into a special ship,
call her the pilgrim,
set sail and go
over the world’s rim
to where rousseau
discovered a jungle
of indigo trees,
a marvelous tangle
precise oranges,
tigers with dreaming eyes,
larger and larger flowers,
leaves of gigantic size —
wander for hours
under a crimson sun
in a pale milky sky
with a vermilion
lizard near by
and over it all
the strangeness that hovers
like a green pall,
envelops and covers
in a warm still suspense

1. while traveling, the speaker and listener dream about spending many happy hours examining one of rousseau’s paintings.
2. as good friends, the speaker and listener enjoy looking at paintings and pretending that they are living in rousseau’s world.
3. in their imaginations, the speaker and listener immerse themselves in rousseau’s world and feel included in one of his paintings.
4. using their experience as artists, the speaker and listener describe the aspects of rousseau’s art that make his paintings appealing.

part b
which excerpt from the poem best supports the correct answer from part a?

1. “and let us slip

out of the city rain” (lines 2–3)

1. “wander for hours

under a crimson sun
in a pale milky sky” (lines 16–18)

1. “are to our great surprise

part of the atmosphere,
part of the painter’s dream” (lines 35–37)

1. “into the world of men,

sails all bound up and furled” (lines 50–51)

Explanation:

Part A

• Option 1: The poem doesn't focus on examining a single painting for hours; it's about entering Rousseau's world, so 1 is incorrect.
• Option 2: The poem is about imagining being in Rousseau's world, not just pretending while looking at paintings, so 2 is incorrect.
• Option 3: Lines like "Discovered a jungle... Wander for hours..." show them immersing in his world and feeling part of it, so 3 is correct.
• Option 4: The speaker and listener aren't artists describing art aspects; they're imagining, so 4 is incorrect.

• Option 1: These lines are about leaving the city, not about being in Rousseau's world, so it doesn't support Part A.
• Option 2: These lines describe wandering in the setting but not the immersion/being part of the painting, so it doesn't support.
• Option 3: "Part of the atmosphere, Part of the painter’s dream" shows they feel included in Rousseau's painting world, supporting Part A's idea of immersion and inclusion.
• Option 4: These lines are about returning to the world of men, not about Rousseau's world, so it doesn't support.

Answer:

1. In their imaginations, the speaker and listener immerse themselves in Rousseau’s world and feel included in one of his paintings.

Part B