Question

read the poem.
there are 20 lines in the poem. the poem is numbered every 5 lines.

from summer magic

so many cares to vex the day
so many fears to haunt the night,
my heart was all but weaned away
from every lure of old delight.
then summer came, announced by june,
with beauty, miracle and mirth.
she hung aloft the rounding moon,
she poured her sunshine on the earth,
she drove the sap and broke the bud,
she set the crimson rose afire,
she stirred again my sullen blood,
and wakened in me a new desire.
before my cottage door she spread
the softest carpet nature weaves,
and deftly arched above my head
a canopy of shady leaves.
her nights were dreams of jeweled skies,
her days were bowers rife with song,
and many a scheme did she devise
to heal the hurt and soothe the wrong.

(from \summer magic\ by louisa peacock hill)

this question has two parts. answer part a, and then answer part b.

part a
what is the central idea of the poem?
○ 1. the speaker longs for summer to make the sun shine and the plants grow.
○ 2. troubles will return, but summer lets the speaker forget them for a short time.
○ 3. the speaker gains a feeling of happiness when summer makes the earth beautiful.
○ 4. for the first time, the speaker notices the many changes brought by the summer season.

part b
which excerpt from the poem best supports the correct answer from part a?
○ 1. \she drove the sap and broke the bud,
she set the crimson rose afire.\ (lines 9–10)
○ 2. \before my cottage door she spread
the softest carpet nature weaves.\ (lines 13–14)

Explanation:

Part A

• Option 1: The poem doesn't show the speaker longing for summer to make sun shine or plants grow; summer comes on its own. Eliminate.
• Option 2: The poem focuses on summer's beauty and the speaker's happiness, not on troubles returning. Eliminate.
• Option 3: Lines like "Then summer came... with beauty, miracle and mirth" and descriptions of summer's actions (driving sap, breaking bud, etc.) show summer makes earth beautiful and brings the speaker happiness. This fits.
• Option 4: The poem isn't about noticing changes for the first time, but about summer's impact on the speaker's mood and the earth. Eliminate.

• Option 1: "She drove the sap and broke the bud, She set the crimson rose afire" describes summer's role in making nature (earth) beautiful, which supports the central idea that summer's beauty brings the speaker happiness (from Part A's correct answer).
• Option 2: This line is about summer spreading a carpet, but it's a smaller detail. Option 1 better shows summer transforming nature (like making roses afire, driving sap, breaking bud) to create beauty.

(Assuming the third option in Part B is cut off, but from given options, Option 1 is best.)

Answer:

1. The speaker gains a feeling of happiness when summer makes the earth beautiful.

Part B