Question

Which information, if included in a footnote or glossary, would most help to reveal the conflict between the speaker and his "coy" beloved? The poet's allusion is to the flood as told in Genesis. The Ganges is a river in India considered sacred by some people. Rubies were valued in Asia as amulets thought to preserve virginity. The Humber is a river that flows through the poet's hometown of Hull.

Answer 1

Rubies were valued in Asia as amulets thought to preserve virginity.

Answer 2

The information that would be most helpful in determining the conflict between the speaker and his coy mistress is that Rubies were valued in Asia as amulets thought to preserve virginity.

This is helpful, because it hints at the later concept of the poem of the speaker desiring to have intercourse with his "coy" beloved, while the other statements are merely facts that are unrelated to the overall themes of the poem.