Read the passage.

To Waken an Old Lady
by William Carlos Williams

Old age is
a flight of small
cheeping birds
skimming
bare trees
above a snow glaze.
Gaining and failing
they are buffeted
by a dark wind —
But what?
On harsh weedstalks
the flock has rested,
the snow
is covered with broken
seedhusks
and the wind tempered
by a shrill
piping of plenty.

What clues do these supporting details provide about the poem’s main idea?


Young birds need protection from bad weather.


Elderly people have the ability to overcome the difficulties of old age.


Snowy and windy weather is awful.


Life is lonely and difficult for elderly people.