Why does the speaker compare days to daughters? Read the poem below.

Question

A. He cannot hold onto either of them, despite his efforts.

B. Days and daughters start with the same initial consonant.

C. The speaker raised his or family in Tobago

D. The speaker's daughters like to spend their days at the beaches.

Midsummer, Tobago by Derek Walcott

Broad sun-stoned beaches.

White heat.

A green river.

A bridge,

scorched yellow palms

from the summer-sleeping house

drowsing through August.

Days I have held,

days I have lost,

days that outgrow, like daughters,

my harbouring arm.

Answer 1

The answer would be A. He cannot hold onto either of them, despite his best efforts.

We know this is the answer because the poem's theme is the passage of time and is set in a reflective tone. The speaker of the poem directly associates, "days that outgrow" with his daughters, and states that he cannot keep them in his "harbouring arm". By using the word "harbouring", there is the association with ships, with his daughters as the ships that cannot be held in his harbor: his arms. His daughters are outgrowing him, much as the days have outgrown the speaker.

Answer 2

The answer is A.

The author states that he has held and lost days which outgrow him like daughters. Thus meaning that like daughters that grow up and eventually leave their parents, days/time will eventually slip from your grasp and leave as well.