Question

In "Song for the Turtles in the Gulf," what is the effect of calling the turtle an "old great mother"?

(1 point)
Responses

It presents the turtle as a sacred symbol of nature and life.
It presents the turtle as a sacred symbol of nature and life.

It means the poet had a personal connection with this specific turtle.
It means the poet had a personal connection with this specific turtle.

It suggests the turtle was the oldest known member of its species.
It suggests the turtle was the oldest known member of its species.

It implies the turtle had given birth to many offspring in the Gulf.
It implies the turtle had given birth to many offspring in the Gulf.
Song for the Turtles in the Gulf By Linda Hogan
We had been together so very long,

you willing to swim with me

just last month, myself merely small

in the ocean of splendor and light,

the reflections and distortions of us,

and now when I see the man from British Petroleum

lift you up dead from the plastic bin of death,

he with a smile, you burned

and covered with red-black oil, torched

and pained, all I can think is that I loved your life,

the very air you exhaled when you rose,

old great mother, the beautiful swimmer,

the mosaic growth of shell

so detailed, no part of you

simple, meaningless,

or able to be created

by any human,

only destroyed.

How can they learn

the secret importance

of your beaten heart,

the eyes of another intelligence

than ours, maybe greater,

with claws, flippers, plastron1

Forgive us for being thrown off true,

for our trespasses2

in the eddies of the water

where we first walked.



1. the part of a turtle’s shell that forms the underside

2. trespasses is a synonym for sins; lines 26-27 allude to a Christian prayer that includes the line “forgive us our trespasses”

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Answer 1

It presents the turtle as a sacred symbol of nature and life.

Explanation: Calling the turtle "old great mother" gives it a reverent, maternal, almost mythic status (ancient, life-giving, sacred), emphasizing respect and grief for nature rather than a literal personal relationship or factual claim about age or reproduction.