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46. The correct answer is (C).  An important feature of this poem is irony. The poet repeatedly asserts
that war is kind yet in the very next breath describes events that are inconsistent with this conclusion.
For example, in the first sentence of the first stanza the poet says to the maiden that war is kind, yet in
the next sentence he says that her lover was killed in battle. In the third stanza, the poet says to the
child that war is kind although his father was killed. Thus, the central point is that despite the seeming
gallantry of war, war is not in any way kind.
47. The correct answer is (E).  Each of three stanzas flush at the left margin addresses a different
person: the first, the maiden or soldier’s lover; the second, the babe or soldier’s child; and the third,
the soldier’s mother.
48. The correct answer is (C).  Notice that the second and fourth stanzas are parallel: They both have six
lines, and each consists of two sentences three lines long. Furthermore, the third line in each is the
same. In each, the poet contrasts the seeming or false glory of war (in the first three lines) with the
reality of death (in the second three). The contention that some “men were born to drill and die” can
only be the cynical rationalization of someone who falsely believes that war is glorious. The phrase
“little souls” refers to the ordinary soldiers who are used as cannon fodder.
49. The correct answer is (A). We return again to the parallel structure of the second and fourth stanzas.
There are two elements to the phrase in question here. First, the “unexplained glory” obviously refers
to the false impression that war is glorious. But why is it unexplained? Look to the fourth stanza. Who
is the them in the fourth line of the fourth stanza? It is the men who were meant to drill and die—the
little souls. In the fourth stanza, someone is instructed to explain the virtue or glory of war to these
men. Thus, the ordinary soldier does not understand why anyone would regard war as glorious. Sec-
ond, why is the “unexplained glory” flying above the soldiers? Look again to the fourth stanza. The
flag is used there to symbolize the false glory of war. Thus, the “unexplained glory” that flies above
the soldiers is the flag, a symbol designed to inspire devotion without regard to rational thought.

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