Question

Read the excerpt from Annus Mirabilis by John Dryden and complete the sentence that follows.

O God, said he, thou patron of my days,
Guide of my youth in exile and distress!
Who me, unfriended, brought'st by wondrous ways,
The kingdom of my fathers to possess:

Be thou my judge, with what unwearied care
Since have labour'd for my people's good;
To bind the bruises of a civil war,
And stop the issues of their wasting blood.

Thou who hast taught me to forgive the ill,
And recompense, as friends, the good misled;
If mercy be a precept of thy will,
Return that mercy on thy servant's head.

Or if my heedless youth has stepp'd astray,
Too soon forgetful of thy gracious hand;
On me alone thy just displeasure lay,
But take thy judgments from this mourning land.

In the above lines, the [king, poet, common man, soilder] is praying to God to bring an end to the [widespread plague, raging fire, ongoing war, poverty] .

Answer 1

Answer: In the above lines, the king is praying to God to bring an end to the ongoing war.

In this poem, the first stanza tells us that the speaker considers himself lucky to own the kingdom of his fathers. We see then that the speaker is a king, and that he is speaking to God. Moreover, the second stanza asks God to have pity on his people, and to heal the wounds they have from the civil war. He also asks Him to stop all the wasted blood (the deaths in battle).

Answer 2

Based on the givenstatement the best answer would be:

The “King” is praying to God to bring an end to the “ongoing war.”

It is evident in the excerpt that the king is praying for mercy for his people, in order to plead God to stop the bloodshed that is happening in the war.