Multiple choice

Drain

Directions: Some words in the verse below have been highlighted. Select the best meaning for the corresponding word.

Today the world is a little more my own.
No need to remember the pain
A blue frocked woman caused,
Throwing words at me like pots and pans, to drain
That honey-coloured day of peace,
"why don't you join the others,
what a peculiar child you are?”

 On the lawn, in clusters, sat my schoolmates sipping
Sugarcane, they turned and laughed;
Children are funny things, they laugh
In mirth at other's tears, I buried
 My face in the sun-warmed hedge
And smelt the flowers and the pain
The words are muffled now; the laughing faces only a blur.
The years have sped along, stopping briefly
at beloved halts and moving sadly on.
My mind has found an adult peace
No need to remember
That picnic day when I lay hidden
By the hedge, watching steel white sun
Standing lonely in the sky.

 

  1. Sewer

  2. Pipe

  3. Spoil

  4. Empty

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

In this poetic context, 'drain' means to spoil or ruin the 'honey-coloured day of peace.' The woman's hurtful words are described as draining away the narrator's peace and happiness. This is figurative language - the words are being compared to pots and pans being thrown, emotionally depleting the peaceful moment.