Question

You and Noah have done an awesome job with a difficult poem. Noah’s final part of his assignment is to summarize the final two stanzas of the poem, identifying a theme or lesson.

The stanzas are as follows:

“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.
Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me once place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.”

What theme or message could you explain to Noah from these stanzas?
Question 6 options:

We'll one day be forgotten, but that's how it should be because humans were not meant to be remembered for eternity.


Once we're gone, our loved ones might still find our ghosts somewhere if they're willing to look and listen closely.


We can always access the advice and love of our lost loved ones, if only we're patient and search deeply within ourselves.


Even after we're gone, our lives can still help others, and the things we do and leave behind can be seen in small ways everywhere, if people are open to noticing them.

Answer 1

Answer: "Even after we're gone, our lives can still help others, and the things we do and leave behind can be seen in small ways everywhere, if people are open to noticing them."

Why: the speaker says they will still be "good health" and "filter and fibre your blood" — physical, beneficial effects that continue after they're gone. Lines like "I stop somewhere waiting for you" and "Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged / Missing me once place search another" suggest traces or gifts left behind that people can find if they look, so the poem emphasizes ongoing, quiet influence rather than literal haunting or oblivion.