Question

Going for Water
by Robert Frost
The well was dry beside the door,
And so we went with pail and can
Across the fields behind the house
To seek the brook if still it ran;

Not loth to have excuse to go,
Because the autumn eve was fair
(Though chill) because the fields were ours,
And by the brook our woods were there.

We ran as if to meet the moon
That slowly dawned behind the trees,
The barren boughs without the leaves,
Without the birds, without the breeze.

But once within the wood, we paused
Like gnomes that hid us from the moon,
Ready to run to hiding new
With laughter when she found us soon.

Each laid on other a staying hand
To listen ere we dared to look,
And in the hush we joined to make
We heard—we knew we heard—the brook.

A note as from a single place,
A slender tinkling fall that made
Now drops that floated on the pool
Like pearls, and now a silver blade.

___

Adapted from “Going for Water,” in A Boy’s Will, by Robert Frost, Public domain.

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Questions
Which of the following statements should be included in a summary of the poem?

The first stanza introduces the mood as confusing and problematic.

The first stanza introduces a solution to the problem the speaker is facing.

The fourth stanza creates tension for the children as they hide from the moon.

The last stanza creates a somber mood as the children do not actually get the water.

Answer 1

Only the second statement should be included.

- Statement 2 is correct: the first stanza presents the problem (the well is dry) and the solution (they go to seek the brook).
- Statement 1 is incorrect: the first stanza is matter-of-fact, not confusing or problematic in mood.
- Statement 3 is incorrect: the fourth stanza is playful (hiding like gnomes, laughing), not tense.
- Statement 4 is incorrect: the last stanza is auditory and appreciative (they hear the brook); it does not create a somber mood or say they fail to get water.