I now have three versions of the “Shepherd Girl” poem from which I must choose one as the final composition. They are similar in most respects except for stanza two, which concerns how my mother passed the time whilst sheep watching. The dilemma: which pastime is most apt?

Another decision I must make concerns a line in stanza three: do I choose the figurative version, which allows for good onomatopoeia but poor fluidity, or the literal version, which allows for better flow but little lyrical effect—alliterative, onomatopoeic or otherwise? I cannot decide!