Question

What is the effect of these last two lines from the passage? Yet joy I shall them so to see, If any joy in age there be. The last line casts some doubt on the joy the speaker anticipates and describes in the previous lines. The altered word order shows the speaker is anxious about living long enough to see the boys grown up. These last two lines bring the passage to a decisive conclusion that reinforces the theme of the rest of the poem. The altered word order demonstrates that the speaker doubts the boys referred to will make her proud. NextReset