In a poem that begins with 'Sunset and the evening star' and ends with 'I put out to sea,' who is speaking?

• A. A dying man
• B. A sailor
• C. The speaker's wife
• D. A fisherman

Answer: (A)

The passage uses sea imagery to mark the end of life. Sunset and the evening star create a twilight mood, signaling that the speaker’s days are closing. Ending with “I put out to sea” frames the final departure as a voyage beyond the known world, a common metaphor for death and crossing over. The voice is intimate and reflective, more about the speaker’s personal exit from life than about continuing work or routine at sea.

That makes the reading as a dying man the most natural fit: the final act is not about starting another shift at sea, but about a last, inward journey toward the unknown. A sailor or fisherman would typically be described in terms of ongoing labor or duty at sea, and a wife would frame events differently, so the tone and imagery here point to a final, existential voyage rather than a regular maritime scene.