Question

Read this excerpt from Sonnet 11 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

This weary minstrel-life that once was girt

To climb Aornus, and can scarce avail

To pipe now 'gainst the valley nightingale

A melancholy music

What do the allusion to Aornus and the description of the speaker's singing voice show readers about the speaker?

She once was strong, but now she is weak.

She once was lonely, but now she is in love.

She once was ill, but now she is well.

She once was humble, but now she is proud.

Answer 1

She once was strong, but now she is weak

Step-by-step explanation:

According to the excerpt from Sonnet 11 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the poet talks about a girl that claimed Aornus without problems but now she is lying in the valley singing a song of melancholy.

The allusion to Aornus and the description of the speaker's singing voice show readers that she was once strong but now she's weak.