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Unit 8 · Reading Comprehension English · 2021 cycle (Shift 1)

Passage II (G. M. Hopkins, 'No worst, there is none', written 1885, published 1918)

No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief,
More pangs will, schooled at forepangs, wilder wring.
Comforter, where, where is your comforting?
Mary, mother of us, where is your relief?
My cries heave, herds-long; huddle in a main, a chief
Woe, world-sorrow; on an age-old anvil wince and sing —
Then lull, then leave off. Fury had shrieked 'No ling-
ering! Let me be fell: force I must be brief.'
O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall
Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed. Hold them cheap
May who ne'er hung there. Nor does long our small
Durance deal with that steep or deep. Here! creep,
Wretch, under a comfort serves in a whirlwind: all
Life death does end and each day dies with sleep.

Beyond the intensity of known grief, there can be:

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Correct answer: D. grief beyond the limits of pain

Explanation

'Pitched past pitch of grief' — beyond the highest pitch of sorrow.

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