Question

What is beheld through glass seems glass. the quality of what i am encases what i am not, smooths the strange world. i perceive it slowly in my time, in my material, as my pride, as my possession: the vision is love. when life crashes like a cracked pane, still shall i love even the slight grass and the patient dust. death also sees, though darkly, and i must trust then as now only another kind of prism through which i may not put my hands to touch. which of the following best paraphrases the bolded stanza?

1) The essence of who I am defines what I am not, making the unfamiliar world less rough. I gradually realize, in the material aspects of my life, that love is my guiding vision.
2) In my time, the quality of what I am encases what I am not. As my pride, as my possession, the vision is love.
3) I am not anything, not pride, not possession, not love. The world is smooth. I don't understand what I am, only what I'm not.
4) The vision is love. When life crashes like a cracked pane, still shall I love even the slight grass and the patient dust. Death also sees, though darkly, and I must trust then as now only another kind of prism through which I may not put my hands to touch.

Answer 1

The essence of who I am defines what I am not, making the unfamiliar world less rough. I gradually realize, in the material aspects of my life, that love is my guiding vision.

Step-by-step explanation:

The bolded stanza can be paraphrased as: The essence of who I am defines what I am not, making the unfamiliar world less rough. I gradually realize, in the material aspects of my life, that love is my guiding vision.