The Ballad of Dead Friends
As we the withered ferns
By the roadway lying,
Time, the jester, spurns
All our prayers and prying --

All our tears and sighing,
Sorrow, change, and woe --
All our where-and-whying
For friends that come and go.
Life awakes and burns,

Age and death-defying,
Till at last, it learns
All but Love is dying;
Love's the trade we're plying,
God has willed it so;

Shrouds are what we're buying
For friends that come and go.
Man forever yearns
For the thing that's flying.
Everywhere he turns,

Men to dust are drying, --
Dust that wanders, eying
(With eyes that hardly glow)
New faces, dimly spying
For friends that come and go.

ENVOY

And thus we all are nighing
The truth we fear to know:
Death will end our crying
For friends that come and go.

1. Which of the following lines from the poem uses literal language?
"Time, the jester, spurns"
"All our tears and sighing"
"For the thing that's flying"
"Men to dust are drying"
2. How does the author personify the idea of life in the poem?
by using the five senses to describe it
by saying that it awakes and burns
by comparing it to different types of love
by describing its contrasting emotions

3. Read lines 12 and 13 from the poem. "All but Love is dying;/ Love's the trade we're plying..." What does the statement "Love's the trade we're plying" mean in the poem?
Love should be our main job in life.
Love is just something people try to sell.
We will endure as long as we love each other.
Death comes for everyone, so love while you can.

4. This question has two parts. Part A: Why does the speaker say that friends "come and go"?
Friendship is difficult to maintain.
Friends may visit but do not live with us.
People in our life don't live forever.
The people we care about are not always reliable.

Part B: Which line from the poem BEST supports the answer in Part A?
"All our where-and-whying"
"Age and death defying"
"Shrouds are what we're buying"
"Man forever yearns"