Question

Read the lines from "Auspex."

Woe’s me, I shall be lonely
When I can feel no longer
The impatience of their wings!

Which best describes the effect of the expression “Woe’s me”?
It heightens the sense of loss in the poem.
It creates an artificially dramatic tone.
It injects excitement into the work.
It gives us a sense of the speaker’s character.

Answer 1

It heightens the sense of loss in the poem.

"Woe’s me" is an exclamation of sorrow that emphasizes the speaker’s lament about future loneliness, reinforcing the poem’s mood of grief rather than excitement or merely revealing character.