Question

How does the first stanza of "Mutability” reflect the idea expressed in this excerpt from "A Defence of Poetry”?

Answer 1

C) It demonstrates poetry's ability to"arrest the vanishing apparitions" of life by preserving an image of a fleeting moment in time. 

Answer 2

The options of the question are, A) It demonstrates poetry’s ability to make all things “immortal” by referring to images from nature that have existed for centuries. B) it demonstrates poetry´s ability to send images “forth among mankind” by explaining in detail how this is accomplished. C) it demonstrates poetry´s ability to “arrest the vanishing apparitions” of life by preserving an image of a fleeting moment in time. D) it demonstrates poetry´s ability to portray all things as “beautiful” by taking an unpleasant image and depicting it as a lovely one.

The correct answer is C) it demonstrates poetry´s ability to “arrest the vanishing apparitions” of life by preserving an image of a fleeting moment in time.

The first stanza of Mutability reflects the idea expressed in the excerpt of “A Defense of Poetry” because it demonstrates poetry´s ability to “arrest the vanishing apparitions” of life by preserving an image of a fleeting moment in time.  

Mutability was a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The poem is part of a collection called “Alastor, or the Spirit of Solitude; And Other Poems”. The excerpt is taken from “A Defense of Poetry”, an essay written by the same author in 1821.