The following text is from the 1849 poem “Self-Dependence” by Matthew Arnold.Weary of myself, and sick of askingWhat I am, and what I ought to be,At this vessel’s prow I stand, which bears meForwards, forwards, o’er the starlit sea.And a look of passionate desireO’er the sea and to the stars I send:“Ye who from my childhood up have calm’d me,Calm me, ah, compose me to the end6Mark for ReviewABCWhich choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?AIt characterizes the rapidity with which the speaker questions himself.BIt contrasts the speaker’s feelings with the expectations of those around him.CIt highlights the helplessness the speaker feels about the direction of his life.DIt demonstrates the speaker’s optimism that his questions will be eventually answered.

The following text is from Alice Meynell’s 1893 poem “Regrets."As, when the seaward ebbing tide doth pour   Out by the low sand spaces,The parting waves slip back to clasp the shore   With lingering embraces,—So in the tide of life that carries me   From where thy true heart dwells,Waves of my thoughts and memories turn to thee   With lessening farewellsWhich choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?It depicts the movement of the ebbing tides.eliminateIt connects the imagery of the tides to the speaker’s feelings.eliminateIt conveys the speaker’s terror of nature.eliminateIt uses a natural phenomenon to serve as a metaphor for a lover’s deceit.

Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows like harmony in music; there is a dark inscrutable workmanship that reconciles discordant elements, makes them cling together. In one society. How strange that all. The terrors, pains, and early miseries, regrets, vexations, lassitudes interfused within my mind, should e’er have borne a part, and that a needful part, in making up. The calm existence that is mine when I am worthy of myself! Praise to the end!According to the poet, one can be worthy of oneself only when one has experienced the terrors and the pains of life and has grown above them to achieve a state of calmness.All the discordant elements in the poet’s life have gone into making him what he is now, and the calmness that he feels in the present is only because of having experienced the terrors in the past; this is what has made him a worthy human being.The mind fuses the past and the present in such a way that the calmness the poet feels at the moment is in a way amnesiac of the past; it is only because of this forgetfulness of the terrors of the past that the poet can be calm in the present. Dust we are and unto dust we will return; in the meanwhile, one must undergo all the pains and travails of life in order to become a worthy human being-- only then can one achieve a praiseworthy end.

How does it contribute to the theme or message of the poem?

Lines 31–32 of The Seafarer creates images of Group of answer choiceshorror and fear.indecision and confusion.emptiness and misery.motivation and courage.

The poet ends his poem with, "Notice Neptune, though,/ Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity". What is this referring to?