GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of British Poetry 1660–1925
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
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Example Questions
Example Question #33 : Contexts Of Poetry
O, my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June:
O, my luve’s like the melodie,
That’s sweetly play’d in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
’Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Who is the author of this poem?
Iain Banks
Hamish Henderson
George MacDonald
Robert Burns
Alasdair Gray
Robert Burns
This is “A Red, Red Rose,” one of the most famous and enduring poems of the poet Robert Burns (1759-1796). It is technically a song and was based on traditional Scottish music, but it is often reprinted as a poem.
George MacDonald wrote Phantastes: A Faerie Romance (1858), Hamish Henderson wrote Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica (1948), Alasdair Gray wrote Old Negatives (1989), and Iain Banks wrote The Wasp Factory (1984).
Passage adapted from "A Red, Red Rose" (1794) by Robert Burns.
Example Question #34 : Contexts Of Poetry
O, my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June:
O, my luve’s like the melodie,
That’s sweetly play’d in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
’Till a’ the seas gang dry.
This author is widely regarded as the national poet of which country?
Ireland
Scotland
Isle of Mann
Wales
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Robert Burns, also known as Robbie or Rabbie Burns, is Scotland’s most famous poet and is widely referred to in that country as just “The Bard.” He is known for his use of the Scots language and Scottish English dialect in his poetry.
Passage adapted from "A Red, Red Rose" (1794) by Robert Burns.
Example Question #35 : Contexts Of Poetry
O, my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June:
O, my luve’s like the melodie,
That’s sweetly play’d in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
’Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Which of the following is not another work by the author of this poem?
“Tam o’ Shanter”
“Halloween”
“To a Mouse”
“To a Mountain Daisy”
“Clown in the Moon”
“Clown in the Moon”
“Clown in the Moon” is a poem by the Welsh author Dylan Thomas. The rest are works by Robbie Burns.
“To a Mouse,” “To a Mountain Daisy,” and “Halloween” were published in Poems Chiefly in a Scottish Dialect (1786)
“Tam o’ Shanter” was published in 1791.
Passage adapted from "A Red, Red Rose" (1794) by Robert Burns.
Example Question #36 : Contexts Of Poetry
O, my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June:
O, my luve’s like the melodie,
That’s sweetly play’d in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
’Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Which of the following traditional works did the author of this poem successfully preserve?
“The Orange and the Green”
“The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond”
“Auld Lang Syne”
“Bluebells of Scotland”
“The Lakes of Pontchartrain”
“Auld Lang Syne”
In addition to writing his own poetry, Robert Burns worked to preserve traditional Scottish poetry and music. “Auld Lang Syne” is one such Scottish song that he was able to popularize and pass into popular culture.
Passage adapted from "A Red, Red Rose" (1794) by Robert Burns.
Example Question #37 : Contexts Of Poetry
I sing the Sofa. I, who lately sang
Truth, Hope, and Charity, and touched with awe
The solemn chords, and with a trembling hand,
Escaped with pain from that advent’rous flight,
Now seek repose upon a humbler theme:
The theme though humble, yet august and proud
The occasion—for the Fair commands the song.
In addition to poetry, this author also wrote which of the following?
Hymns
Plays
Novels
Limericks
Folk songs
Hymns
For part of his life, William Cowper was an evangelical Christian. Some of his religious fervor took the form of English hymns, many of which are still sung today.
Passage adapted from William Cowper’s The Task and Other Poems (1785).
Example Question #38 : Contexts Of Poetry
I sing the Sofa. I, who lately sang
Truth, Hope, and Charity, and touched with awe
The solemn chords, and with a trembling hand,
Escaped with pain from that advent’rous flight,
Now seek repose upon a humbler theme:
The theme though humble, yet august and proud
The occasion—for the Fair commands the song.
When was this work published?
1760s
1800s
1840s
1820s
1780s
1780s
The Task was first published in 1785. William Cowper lived from 1731 to 1800, which may have helped you narrow down the answer choices.
Passage adapted from William Cowper’s The Task and Other Poems (1785).
Example Question #39 : Contexts Of Poetry
I sing the Sofa. I, who lately sang
Truth, Hope, and Charity, and touched with awe
The solemn chords, and with a trembling hand,
Escaped with pain from that advent’rous flight,
Now seek repose upon a humbler theme:
The theme though humble, yet august and proud
The occasion—for the Fair commands the song.
Which political reform is this poet most closely associated with?
Prison reform
Women’s suffrage
Abolishing slavery
Abolishing segregation
Temperance
Abolishing slavery
In addition to being an important early Romantic poet, William Cowper was an ardent abolitionist and spoke out openly against slavery in Britain.
Passage adapted from William Cowper’s The Task and Other Poems (1785).
Example Question #40 : Contexts Of Poetry
I sing the Sofa. I, who lately sang
Truth, Hope, and Charity, and touched with awe
The solemn chords, and with a trembling hand,
Escaped with pain from that advent’rous flight,
Now seek repose upon a humbler theme:
The theme though humble, yet august and proud
The occasion—for the Fair commands the song.
Who is the author of this poem?
William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
George Gordon
William Cowper
John Newton
William Cowper
This is William Cowper’s epic six-book poem The Task. It was allegedly inspired by a incident in which a lady wagered that he couldn’t compose a poem on any topic – say, for instance, a sofa. Although the poem begins with a parodic discussion of a sofa’s virtues, it quickly digresses into more important topics.
William Wordsworth (co-)wrote The Lyrical Ballads (1798), Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote Biographia Literaria (1817), John Newton wrote "Amazing Grace" (1779), and George Gordon (A.K.A Lord Byron) wrote Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812).
Passage adapted from William Cowper’s The Task and Other Poems (1785).
Example Question #41 : Contexts Of British Poetry
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
When was this poem first published?
1750s
1770s
1780s
1790s
1760s
1790s
The poem was first published in 1794.
Passage adapted from William Blake’s Songs of Experience (1794).
Example Question #42 : Contexts Of British Poetry
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Who is the author of this poem?
Christina Rossetti
William Blake
John Keats
William Cowper
Matthew Arnold
William Blake
This is “The Tyger,” one of the best known poems by the English poet William Blake (1757-1827).
William Cowper wrote John Gilpin (1782), John Keats wrote Poems (1816), Christina Rossetti wrote Goblin Market (1862), and Matthew Arnold wrote Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems (1852).
Passage adapted from William Blake’s Songs of Experience (1794).
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