:::I remember finding the poem difficult first time I read it, and rereading it now I remember that I had no idea how "the hand that mocked them and the heart that fed" followed from what had just been said.  Because I read: "survive" as merely saying that the passions were still visible, rather than saying the passions outlive something.  I think a lot of people could make a similar mistake on early reads, so while perhaps *I was* the stupidest person in my English class, I think there are enough people at least as stupid as I to warrant keeping the advice there -).