Question

Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this poem. Read this line from "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter," which describes the speaker and her husband when they were children. Two small people, without dislike or suspicion. How does this line and the previous lines' descriptions of the speaker and her husband playing near each other develop the idea that time and maturity can allow love to develop between two people? They indicate that it would be better not to grow up, but to remain a child at heart always. They suggest that, as children, the speaker and her future husband had no strong feelings for each other. They indicate that, in that time and place, boys and girls played together as equals. They suggest that people should be suspicious of everyone they meet, even as children, for everyone has a negative side.

Answer 1

The correct answer is B.

In this line of the poem "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter" we can sense that the speaker and her future husband had no strong feelings for one another. The were "without dislike or suspicion". They, as children do, merely played together. They were not yet interested in adult things like love and marriage.

However, after getting married, as they grew old together, the narrator started to develop romantic feelings for her husband. She fell in love with him and, after he left for war, waited for him in sorrow and dispair.

This shows that, even though they had no feelings for each other as children and were married at a very young age, time and maturity allowed them to get to know each other more deeply and develop the feelings of love.

Answer 2

Answer:

They suggest that, as children, the speaker and her future husband had no strong feelings for each other.

Explanation: