Question

Read the excerpt from the poem "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles" by John Keats.

Such dim-conceived glories of the brain Bring round the heart an indescribable feud; So do these wonders a most dizzy pain, That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude Wasting of old Time—with a billowy main— A sun—a shadow of a magnitude.

Which theme does this passage support?

A)Even the human mind cannot overcome time.
B)Even art is affected by the ravages of time.
C)Art remains unchanged over time.
D)Time and age bring wisdom

Answer 1

The correct answer is option B.

Step-by-step explanation:

The author establishes how the brain can create such wonderful things that generate something indescribable in the heart. Even so, time makes everything fade no matter how wonderful that kind of art is.

He also speaks of the "dim-conceived glories of the brain," and how the brain does not realize the true greatness found in nature, which does survive time.

Answer 2

B) Even art is affected by the ravages of time.

Step-by-step explanation:

This text talks about the glories of art and how they can bring an indescribable joy when they are conceived, but speaks also of how they can be affected by the passage of time, losing part of their mysticism, which is represented in the text as a shadow casted on these feelings by the passage of time.