Passage: Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
by John Gould Fletcher
Higher and still more high, Palaces made for cloud, Above the dingy city-roofs Blue-white like angels with broad wings, Pillars of the sky at rest The mountains from the great plateau Uprise.
But the world heeds them not; They have been here now for too long a time. The world makes war on them, Tunnels their granite cliffs, Splits down their shining sides, Plasters their cliffs with soap-advertisements, Destroys the lonely fragments of their peace.
Vaster and still more vast, Peak after peak, pile after pile, Wilderness still untamed, To which the future is as was the past, Barrier spread by Gods, Sunning their shining foreheads, Barrier broken down by those who do not need The joy of time-resisting storm-worn stone, The mountains swing along The south horizon of the sky; Welcoming with wide floors of blue-green ice The mists that dance and drive before the sun.
“Snowy Mountains” by John Gould Fletcher—Public Domain
How does the poet develop the speaker’s point of view in the second stanza (lines 8–14)?
- Aby describing images of the mountains’ awe-inspiring size and strength
- Bby illustrating the differences among the various ways humans can impact the natural environment
- Cby criticizing society for taking careless, destructive courses of action against nature
- Dby demonstrating how the mountains and the people are able to benefit from each other
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the poet develops the speaker’s point of view in the second stanza. In the second stanza, the speaker criticizes the destructive actions of “the world” (lines 8 and 10) against the mountains—actions such as tunneling “their granite cliffs” (line 11) and destroying “the lonely fragments of their peace” (line 14)—as described in Option C.
Option A is incorrect because the speaker’s descriptions of the mountains’ grandeur mainly occur in the first and third stanzas, while in the second stanza, the speaker focuses on humanity and its negative effect on the mountains.
Option B is incorrect because the wording of the second stanza—“makes war” (line 10), “Splits down their shining sides” (line 12), and “Destroys the lonely fragments” (line 14)—communicates the speaker’s position that people’s main impact on the mountains is destructive; the wording does not illustrate different ways people impact the natural environment.
Option D is incorrect because no benefit to the mountains is described by the speaker in the second stanza.