AP English Literature and Composition 1.4 Passage Drill 6

Beauty, strength, youth, are flowers but fading seen;

Duty, faith, love, are roots, and ever green.

Then 11 through 12:

But though from court to cottage he depart, His Saint is sure of his unspotted heart.

And finally, 17 through 18:

Goddess, allow this aged man his right To be your beadsman now that was your knight.

We're told that all three have the same function, so... what do they have in common?

What are they all trying to say?

Whoa, whoa -- not all at once. One at a time, please...

In the first couplet we're talking about stuff like beauty and youth that fade... but duty,

faith and love are more permanent.

In the second couplet, he's saying that even though he's tossing in the towel, his heart

and loyalty will still be with the Queen.

And in the third one, he's indicating that his function might change, but that he will

still be serving the Queen in at least some capacity.

In fact... sounds a little stalkerish. Her royal majesty might want to put some stronger

bars over the windows... So... what do these add up to?

Well, seems that the speaker is reinforcing his loyalty to the Queen in all three couplets.

So this one's pretty obvious -- option B.

Aw... wouldn't they just make the cutest couplet?