Love is like the wild rose-briar, Friendship is like the holly-tree— The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms But which will bloom most constantly? The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring, Its summer blossoms scent the air; yet wait till winter comes again And who will call the wild-briar fair? What clues do these supporting details provide about the poem's main idea?

These supporting details reveal the speaker of the poem thinks friendship is more constant than love.

Explanation:

The excerpt we are studying here was taken from Emily Bronte's "Love and Friendship". In this poem, the speaker compares love to a wild-briar, while friendship is likened to a holly-tree. Love, like the rose-briar, is intense. Its scent fills the air, and it blooms beautifully, but as soon as winter comes, it perishes. Winter is a metaphor for difficulties. In the speaker's opinion, love does not survive hardship. On the other hand, like a holly-tree, friendship lasts. It may not be as attractive as a rose-briar, but it is constant, and does not die during winter. Friendship is, therefore, more constant than love, and that is the main idea of the poem.

free time is when all my homework and chores have been done for the day and i am "free" to do things that i enjoy doing.

usually i spend time watching television. as my favorite tv shows come on at specific times, i make sure that i finish my homework and chores well before the shows. otherwise i will have to miss them. mostly i manage to watch the shows but sometimes extra homework or chores may cause me to miss a show or two, but it is rare. anyhow if i know that i am definitely not able to catch a show in time, i will just set the video recorder to tape the show sothe evening when the weather is fine, i sometimes go for a stroll around the neighborhood with my friends. this is the time when most the neighbors have come home from work or school. we say hello to those whom we know. they are mostly friendly people and they acknowledge our greetings. once in a while we come upon unfriendly neighbors but we just ignore them and carry on. that i can watch it later.

hello,

your answer is a) the metaphor suggests that the poetic themes are serious and dark.

collins is comparing the poem to a dark room. he is suggesting that the poems theme is serious and wants you to understand it. you don't need to understand the poet in order to understand the poem. you also don't need to move around while reading it. he is simply saying the poem has a dark and serious theme.

- i.a -