AP English Literature · Structure
The repeated pattern in lines 9-16, in which the speaker announces a decision and then reverses it, chiefly emphasizes
Christina Rossetti, “A Pause of Thought” (1850)
1I looked for that which is not, nor can be,
2 And hope deferred made my heart sick in truth:
3 But years must pass before a hope of youth
4 Is resigned utterly.
5I watched and waited with a steadfast will:
6 And though the object seemed to flee away
7 That I so longed for, ever day by day
8 I watched and waited still.
9Sometimes I said: This thing shall be no more;
10 My expectation wearies and shall cease;
11 I will resign it now and be at peace:
12 Yet never gave it o'er.
13Sometimes I said: It is an empty name
14 I long for; to a name why should I give
15 The peace of all the days I have to live?--
16 Yet gave it all the same.
17Alas, thou foolish one! alike unfit
18 For healthy joy and salutary pain:
19 Thou knowest the chase useless, and again
20 Turnest to follow it.
Christina Rossetti, “A Pause of Thought,” published in <em>The Germ</em> (1850). Public-domain text.
The repeated pattern in lines 9-16, in which the speaker announces a decision and then reverses it, chiefly emphasizes
Answer and explanation
Answer: A: the persistence of desire despite the speaker's repeated attempts to govern it through reason and resolve
In lines 9-16 the speaker resolves to give up the longing and then does not, twice, so the repeated reversal shows desire outlasting reason and will. That is A. Choice B is tempting because she calls the object empty, but the repetition concerns her inability to stop pursuing it, not doubt that it exists. Choice C suggests patience will win, while the last stanza calls the chase useless. Choice D proposes she has already obtained what she sought, but the final lines show her still pursuing it.
More Structure questions
- Question 9The shift to second-person self-address in the final stanza primarily
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