EnglishComprehension - (Poetry / Literary)

What is the speaker’s attitude in the closing lines, ‘In the morning…

Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

I was angry with my friend;

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,

Night and morning with my tears:

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night.

Till it bore an apple bright.

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole,

When the night had veiled the pole;

In the morning glad I see;

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

What is the speaker’s attitude in the closing lines, ‘In the morning glad I see / My foe outstretched beneath the tree’?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → grim satisfaction at his enemy’s fall

Grim means dark and cruel.

Satisfaction is the pleasure of getting what one wanted.
In the last lines the foe lies “outstretched beneath the tree”. Outstretched means stretched out flat, here dead or dying.
The speaker sees this and he is “glad”. Being glad at an enemy’s death is a cruel kind of pleasure.
That is grim satisfaction.

Why the Other Options are Incorrect?

Option 1: quiet regret for what his anger has done — Incorrect. Contradicted: Regret means feeling sorry. The speaker says he is “glad”. He does not feel sorry at all.

Option 2: shock at finding his foe in the garden — Incorrect. Contradicted: Shock is the feeling at something sudden and bad. The speaker had let the apple grow and shine for his foe. He is pleased, not shocked.

Option 4: relief that the long quarrel is finally over — Incorrect. Wrong focus: There was no open quarrel, because he never told his foe about his anger. He is glad at the foe’s fall, not at the return of peace.