Question

In "Sonnet 73," How does the poet use descriptions of the last golden leaves on a tree and the last flames of a dying fire to reflect irony?

A. Both emphasize that the manner in which lives are conducted will determine what will influence others.

B. Their meanings highlight that when something beautiful diminishes, one’s attachment to it is strengthened.

C. They both signify that at whatever point an experience ends, our ability to understand it abruptly changes.

D. Their meanings demonstrate that what impresses most at the end of life is usually found in examples from nature.

Answer 1

Answer:

C. They both signify that at whatever point an experience ends, our ability to understand it abruptly changes is the correct answer.

Explanation:

Sonnet 73 is a poem written by English writer William Shakespeare. In literature, irony is a rhetorical device to show that the expectations were different from the real result; there is usually a second intention behind the apparent meaning. In the sonnet, the expectations are an experience to last for ever, and the real situation comes when the end of it is near. The speaker takes hand of elements of nature (such as the golden leaves and the dying fire) to indicate how the end of a situation can lead to a different understanding of it.