Passage
One summer evening (led by her)1 I found
A little boat tied to a willow tree
Within a rocky cave, its usual home.
Straight I unloosed her chain, and stepping in
Pushed from the shore. It was an act of stealth
And troubled pleasure, nor without the voice
Of mountain-echoes did my boat move on;
Leaving behind her still, on either side,
Small circles glittering idly in the moon,
Until they melted all into one track
Of sparkling light. But now, like one who rows,
Proud of his skill, to reach a chosen point
With an unswerving line, I fixed my view
Upon the summit of a craggy ridge,
The horizon’s utmost boundary; for above
Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky.
She was an elfin pinnance;2 lustily
I dipped my oars into the silent lake,
And, as I rose upon the stroke, my boat
Went heaving through the water like a swan;
When, from behind that craggy steep till then
The horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge,
As if with voluntary power instinct
Upreared its head. I struck and struck again,
And growing still in stature the grim shape
Towered up between me and the stars, and still,
For so it seemed, with purpose of its own
And measured motion like a living thing,
Strode after me. With trembling oars I turned,
And through the silent water stole my way
Back to the covert of the willow tree;
There in her mooring-place I left my bark, —
And through the meadows homeward went, in grave
And serious mood; but after I had seen
That spectacle, for many days, my brain
Worked with a dim and undetermined sense
Of unknown modes of being; o’er my thoughts
There hung a darkness, call it solitude
Or blank desertion. No familiar shapes
Remained, no pleasant images of trees,
Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields;
But huge and mighty forms, that do not live
Like living men, moved slowly through the mind
By day, and were a trouble to my dreams.
(1850)
1. Nature.
2. A boat.
Select an Answer
Which of the following best describes the change in the outlook of the speaker during the course of this excerpt?
Naïveté to cynicism
Bravery to cowardice
Hope to despair
Daring to uncertainty
Eagerness to sloth
View Correct Answer
Choice (D) is correct. The outlook of the speaker at the beginning of the excerpt would best be described as "daring," or bold and adventurous. Having boldly taken a small boat out on the lake for an evening adventure, the speaker describes himself or herself as "like one who rows,/Proud of his skill"; the speaker even uses the adverb "lustily" to convey the confidence with which he or she piloted the boat. But the speaker’s outlook shifts dramatically when he or she speaks of seeing the "huge peak, black and huge": the speaker turned back to the shore "With trembling oars . . . And through the meadows homeward went, in grave/And serious mood." The speaker reveals that in the days that followed, he or she was profoundly shaken and confused by the experience: "for many days, my brain/Worked with a dim and undetermined sense/Of unknown modes of being; o'er my thoughts/There hung a darkness." During the course of the excerpt, the speaker clearly passes from a daring outlook to one of "uncertainty," or one lacking conviction and confidence.