Question

and they forget
how others stayed behind and just got on—
got on the better since we were away.
and we came home and found
they had achieved, and men revered their names,
but never mentioned ours;
and no one talked heroics now, and we
must just go back and start again once more.
how does the writer’s choice to use past tense derivations of the bolded verbs impact the mea
○ the soldiers live in the past.
○ it emphasizes how the demobilized soldiers were left behind in people’s minds.
○ it shows how the war was over.
○ the author wrote the poem a long time ago.

Explanation:

• Option A: The poem is about soldiers' return, not that soldiers "live in the past" as a general state. Eliminate.
• Option B: The past - tense verbs (e.g., "stayed", "achieved", "revered") show actions of others moving forward and being remembered, while the soldiers' contributions are forgotten. This emphasizes how demobilized soldiers were left behind in people's minds. This makes sense.
• Option C: The past tense here is about the soldiers' experiences and others' actions, not just to show the war was over. Eliminate.
• Option D: The tense choice in the poem is about the narrative, not when the author wrote it. Eliminate.

Answer:

B. It emphasizes how the demobilized soldiers were left behind in people’s minds.