Romantic Poetry
William Blake: The Lamb, The Tyger, A Poison Tree
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In “Poison Tree,” the speaker contrasts a straightforward approach to anger with
a. Quietly planning revenge
c. Resorting to physical violence
b. Secretly poisoning his enemy
d. Trying to forget the whole thing
The fate of the speaker’s foe suggests that anger can be
a. Deadly
c. Controlled
b. Useful
d. Mysterious
The speaker of “The Lamb” is
a. The lamb
c. A little child
b. Jesus Christ
d. A Christian minister
Descriptive words and imagery in the first stanza of “The Lamb” suggest that the lamb is a
symbol of
a. Youth
c. Romance
b. Summer
d. Innocence
Which of the following phrases does NOT contribute to the image of the tiger in “The Tyger?”
a. Sinews of thy heart
c. Fire of thine eyes
b. Fearful symmetry
d. Dread grasp
In “The Tyger” Blake creates a metaphor that compares the stars to
a. Warriors
c. Fears and terrors
b. Blacksmiths
d. Hammers and anvils
In “The Tyger” the speaker questions
a. Whether the tiger should be chained up
b. Why the tiger was made in the first place
c. Whether the tiger and the lamb had the same creator
d. What the tiger will do now that it is free
The rhyme and meter in both “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” are
a. Simple and regular
c. Repetitious and fast-paced
b. Without clear patterns
d. Complicated and sophisticated
Robert Burns: John Anderson, To A Mouse
1.
The speaker in “John” is most likely
a. John
b. The poet himself
2. The speaker talks directly to
a. Robert Burns
b. John Anderson
c. John’s wife
d. John’s mother
c. The readers of the poem
d. The British government
3. In the second stanza, the verbs clamb and totter help define the conditions of
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a. Good and evil
c. Belief and doubt
b. Youth and age
d. Happiness and anger
In “Mouse” the line “wee sleekit cow’rin tim’rous beastie” describes
a. The poet
c. Mortal man
b. The mouse
d. No hope for the future
The speaker is most likely
a. A farmer
c. Someone from the city
b. The mouse
d. John Anderson as a young man
The speaker considers the mouse better off than he is because the mouse
a. Is just a simple beastie
b. Has not broken nature’s social union
c. Can with time and effort rebuild its burrow
d. Lives only in the present, not in the past or future
The poem compares the wrecking of the mouse’s house with
a. English dominion over Scotland
c. Damage done to the earth
b. Mistreatment of animals by
d. Ruin of even well prepared
humans
plans
Which of the following is not an example of dialect?
a. Bickering brattle
c. Proving foresight may be vain
b. Wee-bit houseie too in ruin
d. Cost thee mony a wearly nibble
Byron, Shelley, and Keats
1. The tone of “Ozymandias” is
a. Ironic
c. Tragic
b. Comic
d. Bitter
2. According to Shelley, the sculptor has read well Ozymandias’
a. Figure
c. Power
b. Egotism
d. Strength
3. “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” is set in
a. Spring
c. Fall
b. Summer
d. Winter
4. The tone of “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” is
a. Ironic
c. Fearful
b. Comic
d. Mournful
5. “When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be” is
a. A sonnet
c. An ode
b. A ballad
d. A terza rima
6. Which of the following is NOT something Keats fears in “When I Have Fears”
a. Never growing rich
b. Never chasing romance
c. Never seeing his beloved again
d. Never writing the books he wants
Victorian Poetry
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The theme of “Crossing the Bar” is that
a. There is no place like home
b. True sailors must return to the
sea
The tears in “Tears, Idle Tears” are idle because they
a. Are shed for no reason
b. Cannot bring back the past
c. Come during a happy occasion
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d.
The first two lines of “Tears” include examples of which device?
a. Alliteration
c.
b. Onomatopoeia
d.
Porphyria has apparently come to her sweetheart to
a. End their engagement
b. Demand that they marry
c. Express her undying love
The sweetheart’s response indicates that he
a. Agrees to the breakup
b. Feels Porphyria is too lowly to
wed
Friends should not part with
sadness
Death reunites the faithful
with God
Mourn a love that is not
returned
Consonance
Oxymoron
d.
Beg him to forgive her
infidelity
c.
Wants to preserve a perfect
moment
Will do anything to prove his
love for Porphyria
d.
6.
The physical setting for the first stanza of “The Darkling Thrush” is
a. Rural landscape
c. Battlefield
b. Cemetery
d. Mountain
7.
The second stanza suggests that the events in “Thrush” take place
a. Just after the war
c. At the end of a century
b. After a fierce battle
d. After the death of a friend
8.
The thrush’s song gives the speaker in the poem
a. Cause for despair
b. Reason for hope
c.
d.
A fundamental question
A romantic inspiration
The speaker of “The Man He Killed” is
a. A traitor
b. A fierce patriot
c.
d.
A wounded soldier
An ordinary soldier
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10. The speaker realizes that the man he killed was
a. A deadly enemy
b. A distant relative
c.
d.
A fierce patriot
An ordinary soldier
11. The theme is best expressed by which of the following?
a. The camaraderie of war
b. The excitement of war
c.
d.
The financial cost of war
The absurdity of war
12. The first speaker’s loved one in “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” has not visited her grave
because
a. He has been killed
c. He married someone else
b. He didn’t know she died
d. He was too despondent
13. In the second stanza, the first speaker assumes that which of the following is digging on her
grave?
a. Her loved one
c. A secret admirer
b. An old school make
d. Her relative
14. The speaker’s dog has come to her grave to
a. Bury a bone
b. Pay his respects
c.
d.
Laugh at ther fate
Bring her a tribute
15. The first time the athlete in “To an Athlete Dying Young” was brought home “shoulder high” was
when
a. He was injured
c. He retired from competition
b. He won a race
d. He broke a world record
16. The “stiller town” of line 8 refers to
a. The realm of death
b. The quiet of retirement
c.
d.
A place far from the stadium
The village where he retired
17. The speaker says the athlete is smart because he
a. Used good racing strategies
b. Died while his fame was fresh
c.
d.
Didn’t become too greedy
Knew how to handle success
c.
Athletes’ reputations are
ruined
Athletes’ fame dies out
18. Line 20 refers to situations in which
a. Athletes burn out easily
b. Athletes lose their perspective
d.
19. The main advice of the “wise man” in “When I Was One and Twenty” is to
a. Be thrifty
c. Be careful in love
b. Give away all wealth
d. Be generous to loved ones
20. What did the speaker do in his twenty first year?
a. Fell in love
b. Rejected his parents
c.
d.
Gave away all his money
Invested in precious stone
21. The tone of the poem is
a. Angry
b. Happy
c.
d.
Satisfied
Remorseful