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Poems and conversations · Question 52 of 150

In "the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit", the "desert…

Question 52

MediumOriginal question

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into by narrow walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action—
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country .

In "the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit", the "desert sand of dead habit" stands for

Options for question 52

Show the answer and explanation
CorrectNot quiteAnswer A

Correct answer: A

Explanation

  1. Reason is pictured as a clear stream, and old, unthinking habit as desert sand. A stream that runs into sand disappears.

  2. So the poet fears that clear thinking can be swallowed up by customs people follow only because they always have.

Worth noting

The poem is not about places or weather. The stream and the desert are pictures for ways of thinking.

Concept
Interpreting a metaphor
Typical time
55 s
Your time
—
The rule this testsFigures of speech and poetic devices
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Ten questions from Poems and conversations, at your own pace.

Practise this chapter →

Ten questions from Poems and conversations, at your own pace.