That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

In this excerpt, what is the best meaning for the word "late"?

not on time
until recently
dead
well into the evening

Question

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

In this excerpt, what is the best meaning for the word "late"?

not on time
until recently
dead
well into the evening

Isry · Answer

What do you think the answer is?

AngeI · Answer

The word late could not be used for "until recently" or "dead" in this context. Out of the remaining two options I would go with D, because of the tone of the poem it is safe to assume the birds didnt have a scheduled time to clock into work

Isry · Answer

I think it’s B because of the words used are talking about autumn transitioning into spring. So it would be talking about birds singing up until recently hence B.

AngeI · Answer

yeah that just clicked

Isry · Answer

Autumn transitioning into winter*