Question

Read the poem carefully and answer the following question. 
I smiled at you because I thought that you 
Were someone else; you smiled back; and there grew 
Between two strangers in a library |
Something that seems like love; but you loved me 
(If that’s the word) because you thought that I 
Was other than I was. And by and by 
We found we’d been mistaken all the while 
From that first glance, that first mistaken smile
Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the poem?

• A. We make mistakes in love.
• B. We fall in love with strangers.
• C. Love may start with small acts like glancing and smiling.
• D. The idea of love is different for the parties involved.
• E. We don’t fall in love with others but with ourselves.

Answer 1

Answer: (E)

The given poem explores the concept of mistaken identity and the initial perception of love. Let's analyze the poem and determine which statement cannot be inferred based on the poem's content.

1. The poem starts with two individuals exchanging smiles because each mistook the other for someone else. This leads to a discussion on mistaken identity at the beginning of a relationship.
2. The lines "Something that seems like love" and "you loved me (If that’s the word) because you thought that I Was other than I was" suggest that there is a misconception involved in their perception of love. It indicates that they were both mistaken about each other's identities.
3. Now let's analyze the given options:
   • We make mistakes in love: This can be inferred as the poem points out a case of mistaken love due to misidentification.
   • We fall in love with strangers: The poem describes the experience of two strangers feeling an initial connection based on a mistaken identity, which can be seen as falling in love with a stranger.
   • Love may start with small acts like glancing and smiling: The poem describes the initial exchange of smiles which leads to a growing connection, indicating that love can start with such small acts.
   • The idea of love is different for the parties involved: Given the misunderstanding and the differing perceptions of identity, it implies that each had a different concept of love due to mistaken identity.
   • We don’t fall in love with others but with ourselves: This statement suggests an introspective view that is not supported by the poem, which instead focuses on mistaken identity and expectations from others.
4. Based on this analysis, the statement that cannot be inferred from the poem is: We don’t fall in love with others but with ourselves. This idea of self-love is not addressed or suggested in the poem, rather it focuses on external misidentification and misunderstanding in relationships.

Therefore, the correct answer is: We don’t fall in love with others but with ourselves.

Answer 2

Poem cues:
“Between two strangers in a library / Something that seems like love; … you thought that I / Was other than I was… we’d been mistaken… from that first glance, that first mistaken smile.”

Answer: Option 5 — We don’t fall in love with others but with ourselves.

Why Option 5 CANNOT be inferred
• The poem shows misrecognition and projection (“you thought that I / Was other than I was”), but it never claims that each person loves only themselves.
• Saying we love “ourselves” is a strong, universal claim (narcissism), which the text does not assert. At most, it suggests loving a mistaken idea of the other, not oneself.
• In inference terms, the poem’s text $T$ does not entail statement $S$ (i.e., $T \nRightarrow S$). The leap from mistaking the other to loving only oneself is unsupported.

Why the other options ARE supported
We make mistakes in love. — Supported by repeated emphasis on error: “we’d been mistaken all the while,” “first mistaken smile.”

We fall in love with strangers. — Explicit: “Between two strangers in a library / Something that seems like love.”

Love may start with small acts like glancing and smiling. — Explicit cues: “that first glance, that first mistaken smile” precede “something that seems like love.”

The idea of love is different for the parties involved. — Nuanced support: one voice says “something that seems like love,” the other qualifies “you loved me (If that’s the word)” — indicating doubt and asymmetry about what counts as “love.”

Key takeaway: The poem clearly supports mistaken identity, strangers’ spark, and small gestures triggering ‘seeming’ love, and it hints at different conceptions of love. It does not justify the absolute claim that we love only ourselves. Hence, Option 5 is the one that cannot be inferred.