Question

Read the selection below and answer the question. An Open Boat by Alfred Noyes O, what is that whimpering there in the darkness?

 'Let him lie in my arms. He is breathing, I know.
 Look. I'll wrap all my hair round his neck' – The sea's rising,
 The boat must be lightened. He's dead. He must go.' 


 See - quick - by that flash, where the bitter foam tosses, 
 The cloud of white faces, in the black open boat, 
 And the wild pleading woman that clasps her dead lover 
 And wraps her loose hair round his breast and his throat.
 'Come, lady, he's dead.' - 'No, I feel his heart beating,
 He's living, I know. But he's numbed with the cold. 
 See, I'm wrapping my hair all around him to warm him.' -
- 'No. We can't keep the dead, dear. Come, loosen your hold.

 'Come. Loosen your fingers.' - 'O God, let me keep him!' -
 O, hide it, black night! Let the winds have their way! 
 And there are no voices or ghosts from that darkness, 
 To fret the bare seas at the breaking of day. Which choice best describes the conflict in this poem? The winds are rocking the boat. A man is thrown into the sea. A woman doesn’t want to let go of her dead lover. Someone is crying in the darkness.

Answer 1

The correct answer is " a woman doesn’t want to let go of her dead lover." This poem is about a person who is mourning for a lost loved one. He compares his experience to an open boat in a stormy weather. He describes the winds that disturb the boat as a symbol of his pains. But the winds do not fully describe the main conflict. The poet says a man should be thrown in the sea to lighten the boat as an image for "letting go". But the choice indicates the man is actually thrown in the sea and therefore incorrect. The poet describes someone crying but this does not show conflict.

Answer 2

A woman doesn’t want to let go of her dead lover.................................................