Question Details

Directions: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate options.

My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O ! my soul is white;
White as an angel is the English child :
But I am black as if bereav’d of light.

My mother taught me underneath a tree
And sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And pointing to the east began to say.

Look on the rising sun : there God does live
And gives his light, and gives his heat away.
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning joy in the noonday.

And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love,
And these black bodies and this sun-burnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

The mother of 'the Little Black Boy' says God put people on earth—

Options

A

to learn to endure his love

B

to work off their sins

C

to prepare them for future trials

D

to learn how to treat one another as equals

Show Answer

Correct Answer :

Option A

to learn to endure his love

Solution :

The correct answer is "to learn to endure his love".

Step-by-step explanation:

1. Analyze the Extract:
In William Blake's poem, the mother talks to her child underneath a tree and explains the purpose of human existence on Earth.

2. Locate Relevant Lines:
Refer to the fourth stanza of the given poem:
"And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love..."

3. Interpret the Meaning:
Here, the phrase "to bear the beams of love" means to learn to withstand, absorb, or endure God's light and love. Therefore, according to the mother, God put people on earth to learn to endure His love.

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