Post by ernesto thaddeus m. solmerano on Jun 13, 2007 20:23:26 GMT -5
Poetry Analysis Test
Analyze mentally each of the following poems and then answer the questions that follow. Write only the letter of the best possible answer.
The Bustle in a House
By Emily Dickinson
The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth, --
The sweeping up the heart,
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.
1. This poem expresses the author’s:
a. reaction to the death of a loved one
b. attitude towards immortality
c. faith in God
d. belief in the afterlife
2. The emotion expressed in the poem is one of:
a. deepest sorrow
b. apathy, indifference
c. resignation
d. insolence, defiance
3. The activity described in the first stanza is a physical one.
a. the chatter of the people
b. cooking
c. cleaning up
d. all of these aforementioned
4. In the second stanza, this activity becomes an emotional one.
a. laying aside one’s feelings
b. crying for help
c. yearning for immortality
d. longing for death
Fire and Ice
By Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
5. In this poem, the speaker contemplates whether the world will end in fire or ice; which wins out in his conclusion?
a. fire
b. ice
c. Both a and b
d. It’s just the same.
6. In the second part of the poem, the speaker contemplates whether it would be preferable to die by fire, or by ice. Which does he conclude is the better death?
a. fire
b. ice
c. Both a and b
d. It’s just the same.
7. The tone of this poem is:
a. completely objective
b. rather humorous
c. extremely serious
d. totally absurd
8. In this poem, fire becomes a symbol for:
a. desire, passion
b. destruction
c. hell, misery
d. all of these aforementioned
9. Ice, on the other hand, signifies:
a. apathy, indifference
b. love, affection
c. abhorrence, hatred
d. all of these aforementioned
The Solitary Reaper
By William Wordsworth
Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
Listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
No Nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travelers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.
Will no one tell me what she sings?—
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?
Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle bending;--
I listened, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
10. This poem is:
a. an ode
b. a simple lyric
c. a dramatic monologue
d. a ballad
11. In the first stanza, the poet who is taking a walk in the fields is fascinated by:a. the loveliness of a girl cutting down grain
b. the song of the girl
c. the beauty of the landscape
d. the girl’s being absorbed in her work.
12. The lines of the first stanza, especially the fourth, seem to be addressed to:
a. the beautiful reaper herself
b. Nature
c. a chance passerby
d. the reader
13. In the second stanza, the poet’s fascination for the exotic is reflected in the:
a. references to Arabian sands and the Hebrides
b. mention of singing birds
c. reference to the girl’s thrilling voice
d. mention of weary bands of travelers
14. In the third stanza, it is strongly implied that the maiden’s song:
a. is heard from the poet from afar
b. is in a dialect that the poet does not understand
c. is about something familiar to the author
d. does not please the listener
15. There is in the poem:
a. a fascination for the exotic, for the far away and long ago
b. love for nature and solitude
c. idealization of the common man
d. all of these aforementioned
16. This poem is intended to:
a. express the emotion or mood of the poet
b. teach and improve moral character
c. entertain
d. all of the above
Holy Sonnet IV
By John Donne
Oh my black soul! now art thou summoned
By sickness, death's herald, and champion;
Thou art like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done
Treason, and durst not turn to whence he is fled;
Or like a thief, which till death's doom be read,
Wisheth himself delivered from prison,
But damned and haled to execution,
Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned.
Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lack;
But who shall give thee that grace to begin?
Oh make thy self with holy mourning black,
And red with blushing, as thou art with sin;
Or wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.
17. The lines of the sonnet are addressed to:
a. the reader
b. God
c. Death
d. the poet’s own soul
18. In line 2, “Death’s herald” referring to sickness is a:
a. simile
b. metaphor
c. personification
d. apostrophe
19. In lines 1 and 2, the poet reveals himself to be:
a. eager to take a trip
b. growing old but still strong
c. ill and soon to die
d. all of the above
20. Lines 3 and 5 contain:
a. a simile
b. a metaphor
c. a personification
d. an allusion
21. In the first line, “black” means:
a. the color black
b. sinful, wicked, evil
c. sad, sorrowful, mourning
d. all of the above
22. The first eight lines (octave) of this sonnet reveal that in his present condition, the poet:
a. is guilty of theft and treason but does not want to be imprisoned of his crimes
b. now that he is nearing death, suffers the guilt of a sinful life and is afraid of God’s punishment but still hopes to escape from it
c. wishes to suffer for his crimes or transgressions
d. wants to travel to a distant land
23. In the last six lines, the poet expresses his desire for mercy, forgiveness and salvation through:
a. prayer
b. good deeds
c. repentance
d. all of the above
24. The last two lines contain:
a. a synecdoche
b. a paradox
c. an irony
d. a metonymy
25. In the last line, “white” means:
a. the color white
b. purity
c. chastity
d. deliverance
Analyze mentally each of the following poems and then answer the questions that follow. Write only the letter of the best possible answer.
The Bustle in a House
By Emily Dickinson
The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth, --
The sweeping up the heart,
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.
1. This poem expresses the author’s:
a. reaction to the death of a loved one
b. attitude towards immortality
c. faith in God
d. belief in the afterlife
2. The emotion expressed in the poem is one of:
a. deepest sorrow
b. apathy, indifference
c. resignation
d. insolence, defiance
3. The activity described in the first stanza is a physical one.
a. the chatter of the people
b. cooking
c. cleaning up
d. all of these aforementioned
4. In the second stanza, this activity becomes an emotional one.
a. laying aside one’s feelings
b. crying for help
c. yearning for immortality
d. longing for death
Fire and Ice
By Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
5. In this poem, the speaker contemplates whether the world will end in fire or ice; which wins out in his conclusion?
a. fire
b. ice
c. Both a and b
d. It’s just the same.
6. In the second part of the poem, the speaker contemplates whether it would be preferable to die by fire, or by ice. Which does he conclude is the better death?
a. fire
b. ice
c. Both a and b
d. It’s just the same.
7. The tone of this poem is:
a. completely objective
b. rather humorous
c. extremely serious
d. totally absurd
8. In this poem, fire becomes a symbol for:
a. desire, passion
b. destruction
c. hell, misery
d. all of these aforementioned
9. Ice, on the other hand, signifies:
a. apathy, indifference
b. love, affection
c. abhorrence, hatred
d. all of these aforementioned
The Solitary Reaper
By William Wordsworth
Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
Listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
No Nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travelers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.
Will no one tell me what she sings?—
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?
Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle bending;--
I listened, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
10. This poem is:
a. an ode
b. a simple lyric
c. a dramatic monologue
d. a ballad
11. In the first stanza, the poet who is taking a walk in the fields is fascinated by:a. the loveliness of a girl cutting down grain
b. the song of the girl
c. the beauty of the landscape
d. the girl’s being absorbed in her work.
12. The lines of the first stanza, especially the fourth, seem to be addressed to:
a. the beautiful reaper herself
b. Nature
c. a chance passerby
d. the reader
13. In the second stanza, the poet’s fascination for the exotic is reflected in the:
a. references to Arabian sands and the Hebrides
b. mention of singing birds
c. reference to the girl’s thrilling voice
d. mention of weary bands of travelers
14. In the third stanza, it is strongly implied that the maiden’s song:
a. is heard from the poet from afar
b. is in a dialect that the poet does not understand
c. is about something familiar to the author
d. does not please the listener
15. There is in the poem:
a. a fascination for the exotic, for the far away and long ago
b. love for nature and solitude
c. idealization of the common man
d. all of these aforementioned
16. This poem is intended to:
a. express the emotion or mood of the poet
b. teach and improve moral character
c. entertain
d. all of the above
Holy Sonnet IV
By John Donne
Oh my black soul! now art thou summoned
By sickness, death's herald, and champion;
Thou art like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done
Treason, and durst not turn to whence he is fled;
Or like a thief, which till death's doom be read,
Wisheth himself delivered from prison,
But damned and haled to execution,
Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned.
Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lack;
But who shall give thee that grace to begin?
Oh make thy self with holy mourning black,
And red with blushing, as thou art with sin;
Or wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.
17. The lines of the sonnet are addressed to:
a. the reader
b. God
c. Death
d. the poet’s own soul
18. In line 2, “Death’s herald” referring to sickness is a:
a. simile
b. metaphor
c. personification
d. apostrophe
19. In lines 1 and 2, the poet reveals himself to be:
a. eager to take a trip
b. growing old but still strong
c. ill and soon to die
d. all of the above
20. Lines 3 and 5 contain:
a. a simile
b. a metaphor
c. a personification
d. an allusion
21. In the first line, “black” means:
a. the color black
b. sinful, wicked, evil
c. sad, sorrowful, mourning
d. all of the above
22. The first eight lines (octave) of this sonnet reveal that in his present condition, the poet:
a. is guilty of theft and treason but does not want to be imprisoned of his crimes
b. now that he is nearing death, suffers the guilt of a sinful life and is afraid of God’s punishment but still hopes to escape from it
c. wishes to suffer for his crimes or transgressions
d. wants to travel to a distant land
23. In the last six lines, the poet expresses his desire for mercy, forgiveness and salvation through:
a. prayer
b. good deeds
c. repentance
d. all of the above
24. The last two lines contain:
a. a synecdoche
b. a paradox
c. an irony
d. a metonymy
25. In the last line, “white” means:
a. the color white
b. purity
c. chastity
d. deliverance