Question

Which excerpt from the "The Turtle” best expresses the theme that all living things are a part of, and are guided by, a natural purpose?

breaks from the blue-black
skin of the water, dragging her shell
with its mossy scutes
across the shallows and through the rushes
and over the mudflats, to the uprise,
to the yellow sand,
She’s only filled
with an old blind wish.
It isn’t even hers but came to her
Crawling up the high hill,
luminous under the sand that has packed against her skin,
she doesn’t dream

Answer 1

She is only filled with one blind wish

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

"She’s only filled

with an old blind wish.

It isn’t even hers but came to her"

This excerpt from the given options best expresses the theme of the poem "The Turtle" that all living things are a part and are guided by a natural purpose.

Step-by-step explanation:

"The Turtle" is a poem by Mary Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019). In this poem Mary Oliver use turtle as character that all living and even non-living things are connected with each other. They are just bound to do as they are told by that natural force. In these specific lines, Mary Oliver wants to convey that turtle (or any other living or non-living thing) has an old blind wish/purpose - it is blind because she cannot change it; and it is blind also because she does not know the full purpose, but just a part of it. This purpose or wish is not hers own but it came to her from other natural things around her. This is like a relay message - she got it from other natural things, has to fulfill her part, and then transfer the message next.