Multiple choice

What does the poet mean by the expression 'as tight-closed as a tiny bud'?

Directions: Read the following poem carefully and answer the given question:

Unfolding Bud

One is amazed
By a water-lily bud
Unfolding
With each passing day
Taking a richer colour
And new dimensions
One is not amazed,
At a first glance,
By a poem,
Which is as tight-closed
As a tiny bud.
Yet one is surprised
To see the poem
Gradually unfolding,
Revealing its rich inner self
As one reads it
Again

Naoshi Koriyama

  1. A poem is as beautiful as a bud.

  2. A poem starts with some hidden meaning that would gradually come out.

  3. It is amazing to read a poem from the very beginning.

  4. It is an exciting experience to see a bud blossoming into a flower.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The poet uses 'tight-closed as a tiny bud' to describe how a poem appears at first glance - seemingly simple or closed-off. But like a bud that gradually unfolds, the poem 'gradually unfolding, revealing its rich inner self' when read again. Option B correctly identifies that the poem has hidden meaning that emerges gradually through careful reading.

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