IB English Literature Test Prep

Category - IB English

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,
Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.

According the metaphor of the fire in this sonnet, what does the fire of life eventually consume?
  1. Everything that is near it.
  2. Youth and all those who are young.
  3. The deathbed it lies upon.
  4. That which once kept it alive.
Explanation
Answer [D]: According to the metaphor of the fire in this sonnet, the fire of life eventually consumes all that once nourished it. Shakespeare writes, “Consum’d with that which was nourish’d by.” This extends the metaphor of the fire by indicating that the wood that fueled the fire is eventually consumed and burned to ash.
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