Question

What element of modernist poetry is evident in this excerpt from the poem, "Poetry" by Marianne Moore?

Hands that can grasp, eyes
that can dilate, hair that can rise
if it must, these things are important not because a

high sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because
they are
useful. . .

A.
There is a strict meter and rhyme.
B.
There is an abcb rhyme scheme.
C.
The sentences fall across multiple stanzas.
D.
The theme of loneliness is obvious.

Answer 1

The correct answer is C. The element of modernist poetry that is evident in the excerpt given above would be that the sentences fall across multiple stanzas. The break in the lines are essential as it gives emphasis on the first word of each line.

hope it helps

Answer 2

C. The sentences fall across multiple stanzas.

Step-by-step explanation:

Modernism was an artistic movement created with the intention of breaking with the characteristics of the ancient literary schools. This movement was characterized by the break with the traditional, transforming the way it was previously written; Some of these changes are: Formal Freedom, which was expressed in the use of the free verse, the abandonment of fixed forms, such as the sonnet; colloquial speech, lack of punctuation and the presence of fallen sentences in multiple stanzas of a poem.

This last feature is the one we can observe in the above poem, where sentences fall into multiple stanzas creating an emphasis on the first word of each line.