AP English Literature · Structure
The shift to second-person self-address in the final stanza primarily
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 shift to second-person self-address in the final stanza primarily
Answer and explanation
Answer: D: divides the speaker into the self that continues to pursue and the self that recognizes the pursuit as futile
In the final stanza the speaker addresses herself as "thou foolish one," splitting into one self that keeps pursuing and another that sees the pursuit is futile. The last line shows the chase resuming, so the conflict stays unresolved. That is D. Choice A is tempting because second person suggests a listener, but no separate person enters. Choice B claims she escapes the cycle, which the final line contradicts. Choice C turns the address into a public accusation, though the judgment remains inward.
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