Question

Longing
by Paul Laurence Dunbar

If you could sit with me beside the sea to-day,

And whisper with me sweetest dreamings o’er and o’er;

I think I should not find the clouds so dim and gray,

And not so loud the waves complaining at the shore.

If you could sit with me upon the shore to-day,

And hold my hand in yours as in the days of old,

I think I should not mind the chill baptismal spray,

Nor find my hand and heart and all the world so cold.

If you could walk with me upon the strand to-day,

And tell me that my longing love had won your own,

I think all my sad thoughts would then be put away,

And I could give back laughter for the Ocean’s moan!



"Longing" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Question
Use the poem to answer the question.

Which best describes the speaker in the poem?

(1 point)
Responses

someone who feels more at home on a beach than anywhere
someone who feels more at home on a beach than anywhere

someone who actually the ocean.
someone who actually the ocean.

someone who lost a loved one
someone who lost a loved one

someone whose loved one leaves them as they walk along the shore

Answer 1

someone who lost a loved one

The speaker longs for a companion's presence ("as in the days of old") and hopes for returned love, showing sorrow and yearning for someone who is absent.