The Burning of the LeavesNow is the time for the burning of the leaves.They go to the fire; the nostril pricks with smokeWandering slowly into the weeping mist.Brittle and blotched, ragged and rotten sheaves!A flame seizes the smouldering ruin, and bitesOn stubborn stalks that crackle as they resist.The last hollyhock’s fallen tower is dust:All the spices of June are a bitter reek,All the extravagant riches spent and mean.All burns! the reddest rose is a ghost.Sparks whirl up, to expire in the mist: the wildFingers of fire are making corruption clean.Now is the time for stripping the spirit bare,Time for the burning of days ended and done,Idle solace of things that have gone before,Rootless hope and fruitless desire are there:Let them go to the fire with never a look behind.That world that was ours is a world that is ours no more.They will come again, the leaf and the flower, to ariseFrom squalor of rottenness into the old splendour,And magical scents to a wondering memory bring;The same glory, to shine upon different eyes.Earth cares for her own ruins, naught for ours.Nothing is certain, only the certain spring.—by Lawrence BinyonThe phrase “the reddest rose is a ghost” contains an example ofasimile bparadoxcmetaphor dhyperbole

Sorrow is my own yardwhere the new grassflames as it has flamedoften before but notwith the cold firethat closes round me this year.Thirtyfive yearsI lived with my husband.The plumtree is white todaywith masses of flowers.Masses of flowersload the cherry branchesand color some bushesyellow and some redbut the grief in my heartis stronger than theyfor though they were my joyformerly, today I notice themand turn away forgetting.8 Mark For Review8Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?A) To itemize the various ways that the speaker remembers her late husbandB) To compare the beauty of the trees and flowers to the ugliness of human natureC) To show grief through descriptions of the changed way in which the speaker responds to her yardD) To show that even one who grieves can find hope in the beauty of nature

Read "Sonnet 73" by William Shakespeare:That time of year thou mayst in me beholdWhen yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hangUpon those boughs which shake against the cold,Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.In me thou seest the twilight of such dayAs after sunset fadeth in the west;Which by and by black night doth take away,Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.In me thou see'st the glowing of such fireThat on the ashes of his youth doth lie,As the deathbed whereon it must expireConsumed with that which it was nourished by.    This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more          strong,    To love that well which thou must leave ere long.Which excerpt best develops the theme that it is important to be surrounded by people you love when you get older?A.Which by and by black night doth take away, / Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.B.Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, / Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.C.To love that well which thou must leave ere long.D.In me thou see'st the glowing of such fireSUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

Upon the Burning of Our HouseAnne BradstreetIn silent night when rest I took,For sorrow near I did not look,I waken'd was with thund’ring noiseAnd Piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.That fearful sound of fire and fire,5Let no man know is my Desire.I, starting up, the light did spy,And to my God my heart did cryTo strengthen me in my DistressAnd not to leave me succourless. 10Then coming out beheld a space,The flame consume my dwelling place.And, when I could no longer look,I blest his Name that gave and took,That laid my goods now in the dust: 15Yea so it was, and so 'twas just.It was his own: it was not mine;Far be it that I should repine.He might of All justly bereft,But yet sufficient for us left. 20When by the Ruines oft I past,My sorrowing eyes aside did cast,And here and there the places spyWhere oft I sate, and long did lye.Here stood that Trunk, and there that chest; 25There lay that store I counted best:My pleasant things in ashes lye,And them behold no more shall I.Under thy roof no guest shall sit,Nor at thy Table eat a bitt.30No pleasant tale shall 'ere be told,Nor things recounted done of old.No Candle 'ere shall shine in Thee,Nor bridegroom's voice ere heard shall bee.In silence ever shalt thou lye; 35Adieu, Adeiu; All's vanity.Then straight I gin my heart to chide,And didst thy wealth on earth abide?Didst fix thy hope on mould'ring dust,The arm of flesh didst make thy trust? 40Raise up thy thoughts above the skyThat dunghill mists away may fly.Thou hast an house on high erectFram'd by that mighty Architect,With glory richly furnished, 45Stands permanent tho' this bee fled.It's purchased, and paid for tooBy him who hath enough to doe.A Price so vast as is unknown,Yet, by his Gift, is made thine own. 50There's wealth enough, I need no more;Farewell my Pelf, farewell my Store.The world no longer let me Love,My hope and Treasure lyes Above.QuestionHow is the organization of the poem significant to its meaning?ResponsesA Each stanza depicts another issue the speaker must cope with.Each stanza depicts another issue the speaker must cope with.B Each stanza essentially repeats the previous stanza's thought.Each stanza essentially repeats the previous stanza's thought.C Each stanza recounts the night of the fire from a different perspective.Each stanza recounts the night of the fire from a different perspective.D Each stanza describes another possession the speaker has lost in the fire.Each stanza describes another possession the speaker has lost in the fire.E Each stanza represents another phase in the speaker's reaction to the fire.Each stanza represents another phase in the speaker's reaction to the fire.

Read these lines from "Sonnet 73" by William Shakespeare:In me thou see'st the glowing of such fireThat on the ashes of his youth doth lie,As the deathbed whereon it must expireConsumed with that which it was nourished by.Which theme does this excerpt best support?A.Fire is hot and will burn you.B.Flames turn everything to ash.C.All people will grow old and die.D.In old age, people are often angry.

The following text is from Robert Burns’ 1781 poem, “Winter: A Dirge.”The sweeping blast, the sky o'ercast,The joyless winter dayLet others fear, to me more dearThan all the pride of May:The tempest's howl, it soothes my soul,My griefs it seems to join;The leafless trees my fancy please,Their fate resembles mine!6Mark for ReviewCross out answer choices you think are wrong.ABCWhich choice best states the main purpose of the text?ATo express the speaker's preference for winter over spring and stormsBTo describe the soothing effect of the tempest's howl on the speaker's soulCTo draw a parallel between the leafless trees and the speaker's own state of beingDTo convey the speaker's sense of joy and connection with nature during winter