Which poet is noted for the line about superior people not staying long?

• A. Marianne Moore
• B. Robert Frost
• C. Elizabeth Scott Stam
• D. Martha Snell Nicholson

Answer: (A)

Identifying a poet by a concise, pointed line about social behavior helps you hear how a voice handles pretension and character. Marianne Moore is renowned for crisp, epigrammatic phrases that cut to the heart of human behavior and status. Her poetry often delivers a precise, almost forensic observation with a hint of irony, so a brief line about superior people not staying long fits her style perfectly. That compact, exacting quality—truth arriving in a single, well-placed observation—is what makes Moore the best match. The other poets on the list tend to focus on different concerns—Frost with nature and rural reflection, Stam with devotional, faith-centered themes, Nicholson with personal, spiritual struggle—so they don’t align with the voice that yields that particular line.