Question

Direction: Read the following poem and Answer the TWO questions that follow.
Black lake, black boat, two black, cut-paper people.
Where do the black trees go that drink here?
Their shadows must cover Canada.
A little light is filtering from the water flowers.
Their leaves do not wish us to hurry:
They are round and flat and full of dark advice.
Cold worlds shake from the oar
The spirit of blackness is in us, it is in the fishes. A snag is lifting a valedictory, pale hand;
Stars open among the lilies.
Are you not blinded by such expressionless sirens?
This is the silence of astounded souls.
Which of the following best captures the theme of the poem?

• A. The poem describes the blackness of the human spirit in combination with moments of light.
• B. The poem is about the bad relations between the US and Canada.
• C. The poem describes the plight of the people who live on the borders of two nations.
• D. The poem is about the ugly side of nature.
• E. The poem is about the beauty of the colour black

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Passage summary:
The poet begins by stating that everything is black and penetrated with darkness to its core. There are paper people and trees with tall shadows. The poet uses figurative language to describe the world. The leaves in this forest do not want the poet to hurry and there is light coming from the “water flowers'. The source of the light is the reflection of the stars in the lake. The poet, who has been consumed with darkness, sees the light and is touched.

There is a lot of symbolism used in the poem. We can infer the main theme from the following lines -The spirit of blackness is in us, it is in the fishes.

Hence the correct option is option a: The poem describes the blackness of the human spirit in combination with moments of light