Question

which line from the passage best supports the inference that the author believes a female is better suited for recognizing love?

why was cupid a boy?
by william blake

why was cupid a boy,
and why a boy was he?
he should have been a girl,
for aught that i can see.

5 for he shoots with his bow,
and the girl shoots with her eye,
and they both are merry and glad,
and laugh when we do cry.

and to make cupid a boy
10 was the cupid girl’s mocking plan
for a boy can’t interpret the thing
till he is become a man

and then he’s so pierc’d with cares,
and wounded with arrowy smarts,
15 that the whole business of his life
is to pick out the heads of the darts.

’twas the greeks’ love of war
turn’d love into a boy,
and woman into a statue of stone —
20 and away fled every joy.

Explanation:

The question asks for the line supporting that females are better at recognizing love. The line notes that a boy (Cupid) cannot understand love-related matters until adulthood, implying girls (females) have this capacity earlier, directly linking to the inference.

Answer:

"For a boy can't interpret the thing / Till he is become a man" (Lines 12-13)