Identification of British Poetry to 1660 - AP English Literature and Composition
Card 1 of 44
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
To wayward winter reckoning yields,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,
The Coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
This poem is a response to a poem by .
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
To wayward winter reckoning yields,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,
The Coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
This poem is a response to a poem by .
Tap to reveal answer
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote this poem, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," in 1596 as a response to, and a parody of, Christopher Marlowe's famous pastoral poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." Marlowe's original is one of the best examples of the type of poem that is known as "Pastoral."
Passage adapted from "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh (1596)
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote this poem, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," in 1596 as a response to, and a parody of, Christopher Marlowe's famous pastoral poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." Marlowe's original is one of the best examples of the type of poem that is known as "Pastoral."
Passage adapted from "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh (1596)
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Oh, weep for Adonais! The quick Dreams,
The passion-winged Ministers of thought,
Who were his flocks, whom near the living streams
Of his young spirit he fed, and whom he taught
The love which was its music, wander not—
Wander no more, from kindling brain to brain,
But droop there, whence they sprung; and mourn their lot
Round the cold heart, where, after their sweet pain,
They ne'er will gather strength, or find a home again.
The author of this poem was .
Oh, weep for Adonais! The quick Dreams,
The passion-winged Ministers of thought,
Who were his flocks, whom near the living streams
Of his young spirit he fed, and whom he taught
The love which was its music, wander not—
Wander no more, from kindling brain to brain,
But droop there, whence they sprung; and mourn their lot
Round the cold heart, where, after their sweet pain,
They ne'er will gather strength, or find a home again.
The author of this poem was .
Tap to reveal answer
Shelley wrote this elegy memorializing John Keats, who had died of tuberculosis in Rome.
Passage adapted from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley, I.1-9 (1821)
Shelley wrote this elegy memorializing John Keats, who had died of tuberculosis in Rome.
Passage adapted from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley, I.1-9 (1821)
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Which early English manuscript is known for its comical and often obscene riddles?
Which early English manuscript is known for its comical and often obscene riddles?
Tap to reveal answer
The Exeter Book, a tenth-century codex of Anglo-Saxon poetry, contains nearly a hundred riddles on various subjects. While the Exeter Book is also known for its lyric elegies, it is important to remember that the manuscript contains an important variety of secular writings and is one of the best known sources of extant early English poetry.
The Exeter Book, a tenth-century codex of Anglo-Saxon poetry, contains nearly a hundred riddles on various subjects. While the Exeter Book is also known for its lyric elegies, it is important to remember that the manuscript contains an important variety of secular writings and is one of the best known sources of extant early English poetry.
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Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle,
To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle.
Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr;
The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyr
To consume every thing that brent wol be.
Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree,
Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde;
This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.
The above lines are written by which of the following authors?
Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle,
To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle.
Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr;
The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyr
To consume every thing that brent wol be.
Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree,
Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde;
This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.
The above lines are written by which of the following authors?
Tap to reveal answer
This excerpt from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is, like the rest of the work, unafraid to poke fun at idealized notions of romance. This particular passage is taken from the Wife of Bath's Tale. Chaucer’s poetry is distinguishable by its Middle English and The Canterbury Tales in particular can be identified by any mentions of its more famous characters, including the Wife of Bath, the Knight, the Miller, and the Reeve.
Passage adapted from the Prologue to "The Wife of Bath's Tale" l.371-378 in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1475)
This excerpt from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is, like the rest of the work, unafraid to poke fun at idealized notions of romance. This particular passage is taken from the Wife of Bath's Tale. Chaucer’s poetry is distinguishable by its Middle English and The Canterbury Tales in particular can be identified by any mentions of its more famous characters, including the Wife of Bath, the Knight, the Miller, and the Reeve.
Passage adapted from the Prologue to "The Wife of Bath's Tale" l.371-378 in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1475)
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May I for my own self song's truth reckon,
Journey's jargon, how I in harsh days
Hardship endured oft.
Bitter breast-cares have I abided,
Known on my keel many a care's hold,
And dire sea-surge, and there I oft spent
Narrow nightwatch nigh the ship's head
While she tossed close to cliffs.
These lines, originally written in Old English, are from an eleventh-century poem about a man sailing alone and his relationship to God. From which of the following poems is this passage taken?
May I for my own self song's truth reckon,
Journey's jargon, how I in harsh days
Hardship endured oft.
Bitter breast-cares have I abided,
Known on my keel many a care's hold,
And dire sea-surge, and there I oft spent
Narrow nightwatch nigh the ship's head
While she tossed close to cliffs.
These lines, originally written in Old English, are from an eleventh-century poem about a man sailing alone and his relationship to God. From which of the following poems is this passage taken?
Tap to reveal answer
Translated by Ezra Pound, these are the opening lines of the anonymous 11th-century poem The Seafarer. The first-person poem appears in the Exeter Book, a canonical anthology of early poetry.
Passage adapted from The Seafarer l.1-8 (trans. Pound 1911)
Translated by Ezra Pound, these are the opening lines of the anonymous 11th-century poem The Seafarer. The first-person poem appears in the Exeter Book, a canonical anthology of early poetry.
Passage adapted from The Seafarer l.1-8 (trans. Pound 1911)
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Lo! the Spear-Danes’ glory through splendid achievements
The folk-kings’ former fame we have heard of,
How princes displayed then their prowess-in-battle.
Oft Scyld the Scefing from scathers in numbers
From many a people their mead-benches tore.
Since first he found him friendless and wretched,
The earl had had terror: comfort he got for it,
Waxed ’neath the welkin, world-honor gained,
Till all his neighbors o’er sea were compelled to
Bow to his bidding and bring him their tribute:
An excellent atheling!
These lines begin which work of literature?
Lo! the Spear-Danes’ glory through splendid achievements
The folk-kings’ former fame we have heard of,
How princes displayed then their prowess-in-battle.
Oft Scyld the Scefing from scathers in numbers
From many a people their mead-benches tore.
Since first he found him friendless and wretched,
The earl had had terror: comfort he got for it,
Waxed ’neath the welkin, world-honor gained,
Till all his neighbors o’er sea were compelled to
Bow to his bidding and bring him their tribute:
An excellent atheling!
These lines begin which work of literature?
Tap to reveal answer
Beowulf, one of the most important works of Old English literature, features the characters Scyld the Scefing, Hrothgar, Grendel, and the eponymous Beowulf of the Geats. The epic poem begins with the monster Grendel attacking Hrothgar’s mead-hall, Heorot, and follows Beowulf as he seeks vengeance.
Passage adapted from Beowulf l.1-11 (trans. Leslie Hall, 1892)
Beowulf, one of the most important works of Old English literature, features the characters Scyld the Scefing, Hrothgar, Grendel, and the eponymous Beowulf of the Geats. The epic poem begins with the monster Grendel attacking Hrothgar’s mead-hall, Heorot, and follows Beowulf as he seeks vengeance.
Passage adapted from Beowulf l.1-11 (trans. Leslie Hall, 1892)
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Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far unfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;
Whose prayses having slept in silence long,
Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds
To blazon broade emongst her learned throng:
Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song.
These lines begin which work of literature?
Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far unfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;
Whose prayses having slept in silence long,
Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds
To blazon broade emongst her learned throng:
Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song.
These lines begin which work of literature?
Tap to reveal answer
The Faerie Queene, published in the 1590s by Edward Spenser, includes an Arthurian plotline and various religious allegories. The poem is distinguishable by its nine-line Spenserian stanzas, which follows an ABABBCBCC rhyme scheme, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last in iambic hexameter.
Passage adapted from The Faerie Queene I.i.1.1-9 (1590)
The Faerie Queene, published in the 1590s by Edward Spenser, includes an Arthurian plotline and various religious allegories. The poem is distinguishable by its nine-line Spenserian stanzas, which follows an ABABBCBCC rhyme scheme, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last in iambic hexameter.
Passage adapted from The Faerie Queene I.i.1.1-9 (1590)
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In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne,
I shoop me into shroudes as I a sheep weere,
In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes,
Wente wide in this world wondres to here.
Ac on a May morwenynge on Malverne hilles
Me bifel a ferly, of Fairye me thoghte.
I was wery forwandred and wente me to reste
Under a brood bank by a bournes syde;
And as I lay and lenede and loked on the watres,
I slombred into a slepyng, it sweyed so murye.
What is the title of the poem from which these lines are taken?
In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne,
I shoop me into shroudes as I a sheep weere,
In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes,
Wente wide in this world wondres to here.
Ac on a May morwenynge on Malverne hilles
Me bifel a ferly, of Fairye me thoghte.
I was wery forwandred and wente me to reste
Under a brood bank by a bournes syde;
And as I lay and lenede and loked on the watres,
I slombred into a slepyng, it sweyed so murye.
What is the title of the poem from which these lines are taken?
Tap to reveal answer
Written in the late 1300s, this poem is titled Piers Plowman and is widely considered one of the most important works of Middle English literature. Langland used unrhymed alliterative verse to develop his satirical religious allegory featuring three men, Dobest, Dobet, and Dowel.
Passage adapted from Piers Plowman, l.1-10
Written in the late 1300s, this poem is titled Piers Plowman and is widely considered one of the most important works of Middle English literature. Langland used unrhymed alliterative verse to develop his satirical religious allegory featuring three men, Dobest, Dobet, and Dowel.
Passage adapted from Piers Plowman, l.1-10
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The “Pearl Poet” is responsible for which medieval work of literature?
The “Pearl Poet” is responsible for which medieval work of literature?
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The Pearl Poet is another name for the Gawain Poet, an anonymous author who is thought to have written the fourteenth-century poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl. A classic Arthurian narrative, this poem is a chivalric romance that follows the adventures of Sir Gawain.
The Pearl Poet is another name for the Gawain Poet, an anonymous author who is thought to have written the fourteenth-century poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl. A classic Arthurian narrative, this poem is a chivalric romance that follows the adventures of Sir Gawain.
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Which of the following works features the characters Grendel, Wiglaf, Hrothgar, and Breca?
Which of the following works features the characters Grendel, Wiglaf, Hrothgar, and Breca?
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These characters are from Beowulf. Grendel is the monster that Beowulf fights to avenge the destruction of Heorot; Wiglaf is a young warrior and follower of Beowulf; Hrothgar is the king of the Danes and lord of Heorot; and Breca is a childhood friend of Beowulf.
These characters are from Beowulf. Grendel is the monster that Beowulf fights to avenge the destruction of Heorot; Wiglaf is a young warrior and follower of Beowulf; Hrothgar is the king of the Danes and lord of Heorot; and Breca is a childhood friend of Beowulf.
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The knight of the Redcrosse when him he spide,
Spurring so hote with rage dispiteous,
Gan fairely couch his speare, and towards ride:
Soone meete they both, both fell and furious,
That daunted with their forces hideous,
Their steeds do stagger, and amazed stand,
And eke themselves, too rudely rigorous,
Astonied with the stroke of their owne hand
Doe backe rebut, and each to other yeeldeth land.
From which poem is this passage excerpted?
The knight of the Redcrosse when him he spide,
Spurring so hote with rage dispiteous,
Gan fairely couch his speare, and towards ride:
Soone meete they both, both fell and furious,
That daunted with their forces hideous,
Their steeds do stagger, and amazed stand,
And eke themselves, too rudely rigorous,
Astonied with the stroke of their owne hand
Doe backe rebut, and each to other yeeldeth land.
From which poem is this passage excerpted?
Tap to reveal answer
This is The Faerie Queene, written by Edward Spenser in the late sixteenth century. The poem is distinguishable by its nine-line Spenserian stanzas, which follows an ABABBCBCC rhyme scheme, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last in iambic hexameter. This stanza also mentions one of the poem’s main characters, the Redcrosse Knight.
Passage adapted from The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser,I.ii.15.1-9 (1590)
This is The Faerie Queene, written by Edward Spenser in the late sixteenth century. The poem is distinguishable by its nine-line Spenserian stanzas, which follows an ABABBCBCC rhyme scheme, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last in iambic hexameter. This stanza also mentions one of the poem’s main characters, the Redcrosse Knight.
Passage adapted from The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser,I.ii.15.1-9 (1590)
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If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
To wayward winter reckoning yields,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,
The Coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
This poem is a response to a poem by .
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
To wayward winter reckoning yields,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,
The Coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
This poem is a response to a poem by .
Tap to reveal answer
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote this poem, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," in 1596 as a response to, and a parody of, Christopher Marlowe's famous pastoral poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." Marlowe's original is one of the best examples of the type of poem that is known as "Pastoral."
Passage adapted from "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh (1596)
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote this poem, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," in 1596 as a response to, and a parody of, Christopher Marlowe's famous pastoral poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." Marlowe's original is one of the best examples of the type of poem that is known as "Pastoral."
Passage adapted from "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh (1596)
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Oh, weep for Adonais! The quick Dreams,
The passion-winged Ministers of thought,
Who were his flocks, whom near the living streams
Of his young spirit he fed, and whom he taught
The love which was its music, wander not—
Wander no more, from kindling brain to brain,
But droop there, whence they sprung; and mourn their lot
Round the cold heart, where, after their sweet pain,
They ne'er will gather strength, or find a home again.
The author of this poem was .
Oh, weep for Adonais! The quick Dreams,
The passion-winged Ministers of thought,
Who were his flocks, whom near the living streams
Of his young spirit he fed, and whom he taught
The love which was its music, wander not—
Wander no more, from kindling brain to brain,
But droop there, whence they sprung; and mourn their lot
Round the cold heart, where, after their sweet pain,
They ne'er will gather strength, or find a home again.
The author of this poem was .
Tap to reveal answer
Shelley wrote this elegy memorializing John Keats, who had died of tuberculosis in Rome.
Passage adapted from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley, I.1-9 (1821)
Shelley wrote this elegy memorializing John Keats, who had died of tuberculosis in Rome.
Passage adapted from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley, I.1-9 (1821)
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Which early English manuscript is known for its comical and often obscene riddles?
Which early English manuscript is known for its comical and often obscene riddles?
Tap to reveal answer
The Exeter Book, a tenth-century codex of Anglo-Saxon poetry, contains nearly a hundred riddles on various subjects. While the Exeter Book is also known for its lyric elegies, it is important to remember that the manuscript contains an important variety of secular writings and is one of the best known sources of extant early English poetry.
The Exeter Book, a tenth-century codex of Anglo-Saxon poetry, contains nearly a hundred riddles on various subjects. While the Exeter Book is also known for its lyric elegies, it is important to remember that the manuscript contains an important variety of secular writings and is one of the best known sources of extant early English poetry.
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Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle,
To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle.
Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr;
The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyr
To consume every thing that brent wol be.
Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree,
Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde;
This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.
The above lines are written by which of the following authors?
Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle,
To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle.
Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr;
The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyr
To consume every thing that brent wol be.
Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree,
Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde;
This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.
The above lines are written by which of the following authors?
Tap to reveal answer
This excerpt from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is, like the rest of the work, unafraid to poke fun at idealized notions of romance. This particular passage is taken from the Wife of Bath's Tale. Chaucer’s poetry is distinguishable by its Middle English and The Canterbury Tales in particular can be identified by any mentions of its more famous characters, including the Wife of Bath, the Knight, the Miller, and the Reeve.
Passage adapted from the Prologue to "The Wife of Bath's Tale" l.371-378 in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1475)
This excerpt from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is, like the rest of the work, unafraid to poke fun at idealized notions of romance. This particular passage is taken from the Wife of Bath's Tale. Chaucer’s poetry is distinguishable by its Middle English and The Canterbury Tales in particular can be identified by any mentions of its more famous characters, including the Wife of Bath, the Knight, the Miller, and the Reeve.
Passage adapted from the Prologue to "The Wife of Bath's Tale" l.371-378 in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1475)
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May I for my own self song's truth reckon,
Journey's jargon, how I in harsh days
Hardship endured oft.
Bitter breast-cares have I abided,
Known on my keel many a care's hold,
And dire sea-surge, and there I oft spent
Narrow nightwatch nigh the ship's head
While she tossed close to cliffs.
These lines, originally written in Old English, are from an eleventh-century poem about a man sailing alone and his relationship to God. From which of the following poems is this passage taken?
May I for my own self song's truth reckon,
Journey's jargon, how I in harsh days
Hardship endured oft.
Bitter breast-cares have I abided,
Known on my keel many a care's hold,
And dire sea-surge, and there I oft spent
Narrow nightwatch nigh the ship's head
While she tossed close to cliffs.
These lines, originally written in Old English, are from an eleventh-century poem about a man sailing alone and his relationship to God. From which of the following poems is this passage taken?
Tap to reveal answer
Translated by Ezra Pound, these are the opening lines of the anonymous 11th-century poem The Seafarer. The first-person poem appears in the Exeter Book, a canonical anthology of early poetry.
Passage adapted from The Seafarer l.1-8 (trans. Pound 1911)
Translated by Ezra Pound, these are the opening lines of the anonymous 11th-century poem The Seafarer. The first-person poem appears in the Exeter Book, a canonical anthology of early poetry.
Passage adapted from The Seafarer l.1-8 (trans. Pound 1911)
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Lo! the Spear-Danes’ glory through splendid achievements
The folk-kings’ former fame we have heard of,
How princes displayed then their prowess-in-battle.
Oft Scyld the Scefing from scathers in numbers
From many a people their mead-benches tore.
Since first he found him friendless and wretched,
The earl had had terror: comfort he got for it,
Waxed ’neath the welkin, world-honor gained,
Till all his neighbors o’er sea were compelled to
Bow to his bidding and bring him their tribute:
An excellent atheling!
These lines begin which work of literature?
Lo! the Spear-Danes’ glory through splendid achievements
The folk-kings’ former fame we have heard of,
How princes displayed then their prowess-in-battle.
Oft Scyld the Scefing from scathers in numbers
From many a people their mead-benches tore.
Since first he found him friendless and wretched,
The earl had had terror: comfort he got for it,
Waxed ’neath the welkin, world-honor gained,
Till all his neighbors o’er sea were compelled to
Bow to his bidding and bring him their tribute:
An excellent atheling!
These lines begin which work of literature?
Tap to reveal answer
Beowulf, one of the most important works of Old English literature, features the characters Scyld the Scefing, Hrothgar, Grendel, and the eponymous Beowulf of the Geats. The epic poem begins with the monster Grendel attacking Hrothgar’s mead-hall, Heorot, and follows Beowulf as he seeks vengeance.
Passage adapted from Beowulf l.1-11 (trans. Leslie Hall, 1892)
Beowulf, one of the most important works of Old English literature, features the characters Scyld the Scefing, Hrothgar, Grendel, and the eponymous Beowulf of the Geats. The epic poem begins with the monster Grendel attacking Hrothgar’s mead-hall, Heorot, and follows Beowulf as he seeks vengeance.
Passage adapted from Beowulf l.1-11 (trans. Leslie Hall, 1892)
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Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far unfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;
Whose prayses having slept in silence long,
Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds
To blazon broade emongst her learned throng:
Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song.
These lines begin which work of literature?
Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far unfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;
Whose prayses having slept in silence long,
Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds
To blazon broade emongst her learned throng:
Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song.
These lines begin which work of literature?
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The Faerie Queene, published in the 1590s by Edward Spenser, includes an Arthurian plotline and various religious allegories. The poem is distinguishable by its nine-line Spenserian stanzas, which follows an ABABBCBCC rhyme scheme, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last in iambic hexameter.
Passage adapted from The Faerie Queene I.i.1.1-9 (1590)
The Faerie Queene, published in the 1590s by Edward Spenser, includes an Arthurian plotline and various religious allegories. The poem is distinguishable by its nine-line Spenserian stanzas, which follows an ABABBCBCC rhyme scheme, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last in iambic hexameter.
Passage adapted from The Faerie Queene I.i.1.1-9 (1590)
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In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne,
I shoop me into shroudes as I a sheep weere,
In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes,
Wente wide in this world wondres to here.
Ac on a May morwenynge on Malverne hilles
Me bifel a ferly, of Fairye me thoghte.
I was wery forwandred and wente me to reste
Under a brood bank by a bournes syde;
And as I lay and lenede and loked on the watres,
I slombred into a slepyng, it sweyed so murye.
What is the title of the poem from which these lines are taken?
In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne,
I shoop me into shroudes as I a sheep weere,
In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes,
Wente wide in this world wondres to here.
Ac on a May morwenynge on Malverne hilles
Me bifel a ferly, of Fairye me thoghte.
I was wery forwandred and wente me to reste
Under a brood bank by a bournes syde;
And as I lay and lenede and loked on the watres,
I slombred into a slepyng, it sweyed so murye.
What is the title of the poem from which these lines are taken?
Tap to reveal answer
Written in the late 1300s, this poem is titled Piers Plowman and is widely considered one of the most important works of Middle English literature. Langland used unrhymed alliterative verse to develop his satirical religious allegory featuring three men, Dobest, Dobet, and Dowel.
Passage adapted from Piers Plowman, l.1-10
Written in the late 1300s, this poem is titled Piers Plowman and is widely considered one of the most important works of Middle English literature. Langland used unrhymed alliterative verse to develop his satirical religious allegory featuring three men, Dobest, Dobet, and Dowel.
Passage adapted from Piers Plowman, l.1-10
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The “Pearl Poet” is responsible for which medieval work of literature?
The “Pearl Poet” is responsible for which medieval work of literature?
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The Pearl Poet is another name for the Gawain Poet, an anonymous author who is thought to have written the fourteenth-century poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl. A classic Arthurian narrative, this poem is a chivalric romance that follows the adventures of Sir Gawain.
The Pearl Poet is another name for the Gawain Poet, an anonymous author who is thought to have written the fourteenth-century poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl. A classic Arthurian narrative, this poem is a chivalric romance that follows the adventures of Sir Gawain.
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