Question

HELP!!

Read this excerpt from Donne's A valediction: Forbidding mourning:

"Our two souls therefore, which are one/ though i must go, endure not yet/A breach, but an expansion,Like gold to airy thinness beat

Which statement best paraphrases the lines above

A) Our love can endure our physical absence from each other
B) Our love becomes thinner the farther we are apart
C) Our souls are precious as gold
D) Our souls can endure any breach that arises between them

Answer 1

Answer: A) Our love can endure our physical absence from each other.

The above lines state that Donne and his love are two souls, yet united as only one. Because they are a single entity, when Donne goes away (which he has to do), as they separate, their love does not experience a "breach," but instead, an "expansion." As if their love was stretched throughout the distance in the form of very thin gold.

The best option, therefore, is A, as it states that their love can endure physical absence from each other. Their love does not become any thinner, nor does he states that their souls are like gold. Finally, he clarifies that what they will endure is NOT a breach, but an expansion.

Answer 2

Based on the given excerpt above, from Donne's A valediction: Forbidding mourning, the statement that best paraphrases the lines above would be this: Our souls can endure any breach that arises between them. The answer would be option D. Hope this helps.