Read the Poem below and answer the question.
A Bird Came Down
A Bird, came down the Walk -
He did not know I saw
He bit an Angle Worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,
And then, he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass -
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let Beetle pass -
He glanced with rapid eyes,
That hurried all abroad -
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought,
He stirred his Velvet Head -
Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers,
And rowed him softer Home -
Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,
Leap, splashless as they swim.
"Cautious" is used in reference to which character in the poem -
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → the poet
Cautious means careful to avoid danger or risk. The third stanza ends with the bird: "He stirred his Velvet Head -". The dash closes that picture, and the fourth stanza begins a new sentence: "Like one in danger, Cautious, / I offered him a Crumb". The phrase "Like one in danger, Cautious" comes right before "I" and describes the subject of this sentence, the poet. She moves slowly and carefully, like a person in danger, so that she does not frighten the bird away when she offers it a crumb.
Example: She was cautious as she stepped onto the frozen pond.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: the bird — Incorrect. Wrong link: the bird is frightened in the third stanza (its eyes look like "frightened Beads"), but that description ends with the dash after "Velvet Head". The stanza break and the dash tie "Like one in danger, Cautious," to "I offered him a Crumb", so the word describes the one who offers the crumb, not the bird.
Option 3: the beetle — Incorrect. Wrong part of the passage: the beetle appears only in the second stanza, where the bird hops aside "To let Beetle pass"; nothing about it is described as cautious.
Option 4: the worm — Incorrect. Wrong part of the passage: the angle worm is bitten in halves and eaten raw in the first stanza; it plays no part in the lines about caution.