Lyric poems often deal with intense emotions. Which statement best describes the shift in emotion in "Lift Every Voice and Sing"
as it moves from the first into the second stanza? Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
A.) The joyful call of the first stanza gives way to a bitter recounting of history in the second.
B.) The first stanza's anger is replaced by the second stanza's resignation.
C.) The poem moves from a sense of wonder in the first stanza toward a sense of perplexity in the second.
D.)There is no change between the first stanza and the second. The emotions are the same in both.
I think the answer would be letter A. In my opinion, the shift from happiness to resignation and anger in the second stanza was evident. The poet had expressed happiness by rejoicing. The first stanza also denotes victory. However, the emotions on the second verse were more on remorse and sadness. It was speaking of bitterness and moving on from the past events.
