Can anyone please tell me if I am asked questions in **present tense** from a prose and poem, should I give answers in **present tense** or in **past tense**?

Here is the poem **'The Owl'** by Edward Thomas from which A question was asked in my exam:

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> And salted was my food, and my repose,  
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>  Salted and sobered, too, by the bird’s voice  
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>  Speaking for all who lay under the stars,  
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>  Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.
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Here is the question that was asked in the exam:

* We generally add salt to our food to improve its taste. So, what **does** the poet mean when he **says** 'salted was my food'? Why **does** he feel that way?

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> **Answer**: Salt **improves** the taste of food. But here the poet **uses** the word 'salted' in the sense of 'oversalted'. His food **appeared** to be tasteless to him.
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> It **is** the thought of the miseries of the helpless poor people and the soldiers serving at the front which **makes** him feel that way. Unlike him, these people **suffers** the biting cold of the North wind, without food and shelter.
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I gave the answer written above. My question is should I answer in present tense as the question is in **present tense** or in **past tense**. As the poem was written in the past and everything happened in the past, does the present sound appropriate there?