Question

Which of the following inferences is best supported by the second stanza (lines 6-8)?

I pace the hall, hear whispers,
a code I knew but can’t remember,
mouthed by mouths I taught to speak.

A. The speaker of the poem used to work as an English teacher.

B. The speaker’s children are whispering so that their parents can’t hear them.

C. The speaker of the poem is beginning to lose her memory.

D. The speaker’s teenage children are learning another language at school.

Answer 1

C

The lines say the speaker recognizes a "code" they once knew but "can’t remember," and that it's being spoken by "mouths I taught to speak" (likely their children). That most directly suggests the speaker is beginning to lose her memory.