I'm sure its the first one. I haven't really read the poem in a while but i can easily tell by how it's spoken.
I would say C. “was”. It’s definitely not “am”, because that just sounds completely wrong. It’s not “are” because that sounds a bit wrong, too. It can’t be “were” because it’s only referring to one group, not many groups. The only answer it could be is C.
Answer:
A and C
Explanation:
Sometimes they sat down on the sea, near patches of brown seaweed that rolled on the waves with a movement like carpets on a line in a gale.
The bird flew parallel to the boat and did not circle, but made short sidelong jumps in the air in chicken-fashion.
Mother Nature has no fears, it doesn´t matter for Her if mankind could have some kind of fear.
