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Which British poet began a poem with “April is the cruellest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing” and that also included such lines as “I will show you fear in a handful of dust”?
The poem, T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” is often cited as one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century. It is a polyphonic conglomeration of Arthurian legend, classical myth, modern social satire, and religious vision, and it discusses themes of disillusionment, despondency, death, and mortal judgment.
"April is the cruellest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing": Adapted from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, l.1-2 (1922)
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust": Adapted from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, l.30 (1922)
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If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Some hidden Spirit shall inquire thy Fate,
Haply some hoary-headed Swain may say,
"Oft have we seen him at the Peep of Dawn
Brushing with hasty Steps the Dews away
To meet the Sun upon the upland Lawn.
There at the Foot of yonder nodding Beech
That wreathes its old fantastic Roots so high,
His listless Length at Noontide wou'd he stretch,
And pore upon the Brook that babbles by."
Which of the following poems could not be described as a reaction to this work?
All of the poems are arguably inspired by or draw elements from Gray’s poem except for John Donne’s famous sonnet, which was published in 1633.
Passage adapted from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray, ln.95-104 (1751)
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This post-war English poet and librarian was known for his obscenity and frank examination of modern life in poems such as “This Be the Verse,” “The Life with a Hole in It” and “Aubade.”
The poet described is Philip Larkin, who was born in Coventry in 1922. His poetry is distinguished by a cynical, forthright treatment of romance, children, sexuality, politics, and daily life.
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Britain’s current (2015) Poet Laureate has published volumes including Standing Female Nude, Fleshweathercock and Other Poems, and The World’s Wife, the latter of which refigures classically male-centric myths and fairy tales to focus on the female characters. Who is she?
Britain’s current (2015) Poet Laureate is Carol Ann Duffy, a writer whose work is often rooted in fantasy, fairy tales, and feminism.
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Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
The form of the poem is that of __________.
The poem is an example of a curtal sonnet, which consists of 3/4 the number of lines in a standard Petrarchan sonnet. This form was developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins. It is worth knowing, but it is a somewhat obscure form, so the best approach is to use process of elimination. You absolutely have to know that the Spenserian sonnet and the Elizabethan sonnet are each 14 lines, so you can rule those out right away. You also need to know that the villanelle is a 19 line form in which the first and third lines function as refrains that repeat throughout the poem. The roundel is more obscure, but it is also features a refrain at the end of every other three-line stanza.
Passage adapted from "Pied Beauty" by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1918)
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In the seventeenth century a dissociation of sensibility set in, from which we have never recovered; and this dissociation, as is natural, was aggravated by the influence of the two most powerful poets of the century, Milton and Dryden. Each of these men performed certain poetic functions so magnificently well that the magnitude of the effect concealed the absence of others. The language went on and in some respects improved; the best verse of Collins, Gray, Johnson, and even Goldsmith satisfies some of our fastidious demands better than that of Donne or Marvell or King. But while the language became more refined, the feeling became more crude. The feeling, the sensibility, expressed in the "Country Churchyard" (to say nothing of Tennyson and Browning) is cruder than that in the "Coy Mistress."
The title of a work by which of the following poets is specifically referenced in the passage?
Two poems are referenced by title in this passage: Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" and Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." Marvell is not one of the answer choices, so the only possible answer is Thomas Gray.
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Should God create another Eve, and I
Another Rib afford, yet loss of thee
Would never from my heart; no no, I feel
The Link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh,
Bone of my Bone thou art, and from thy State
Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.
Which of the following poets wrote the excerpted lines?
This is an excerpt from John Milton's epic poem, "Paradise Lost." The first version was published in 1667 and consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse.
Passage adapted from Paradise Lost by John Milton, l.911-916 (1667)
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A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
Identify the poet of the following lines based on the content and style of the selection.
The lines are from T. S. Eliot's 1922 poem, "The Waste Land." It is widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the twentieth century.
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What dire offence from am'rous causes springs,
What mighty contests rise from trivial things,
I sing — This verse to Caryl, Muse! is due:
This, ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to view:
Slight is the subject, but not so the praise,
If She inspire, and He approve my lays.
Say what strange motive, Goddess! could compel
A well-bred Lord t' assault a gentle Belle?
O say what stranger cause, yet unexplor'd,
Could make a gentle Belle reject a Lord?
In tasks so bold, can little men engage,
And in soft bosoms dwells such mighty Rage?
Who wrote this poem?
This is Alexander Pope’s poem The Rape of the Lock. Belinda is one of the main characters of this work.
Passage adapted from Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, I.1-12(1712; ed. 1906)
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Which post-war British poet also published detective novels under the name Nicholas Blake and was an ardent supporter of communism in his youth?
Cecil Day-Lewis, father of the actor Daniel Day-Lewis, was known for publishing nearly two dozen detective novels in addition to many collections of poetry. These poetry volumes include titles such as From Feathers to Iron, Pegasus and Other Poems, and The Whispering Roots and Other Poems. Day-Lewis’s style was often conflicted—at times lyrical or romantic, at times aggressively Marxist.
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What dire offence from am'rous causes springs,
What mighty contests rise from trivial things,
I sing — This verse to Caryl, Muse! is due:
This, ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to view:
Slight is the subject, but not so the praise,
If She inspire, and He approve my lays.
Say what strange motive, Goddess! could compel
A well-bred Lord t' assault a gentle Belle?
O say what stranger cause, yet unexplor'd,
Could make a gentle Belle reject a Lord?
In tasks so bold, can little men engage,
And in soft bosoms dwells such mighty Rage?
What is the subject of this poem?
This poem is based on the true story of two noble families in England during Pope’s lifetime. The inspiration for the poem occurred when a male suitor of one family cut off a lock of hair from a woman (named Belinda in the poem) of the other family without her permission. Pope uses his extensive powers of hyperbole, the mock-heroic form, and classical allusions to satirize this incident and blow it entirely out of proportion.
Passage adapted from Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, I.1-12(1712; ed. 1906)
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If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Some hidden Spirit shall inquire thy Fate,
Haply some hoary-headed Swain may say,
"Oft have we seen him at the Peep of Dawn
Brushing with hasty Steps the Dews away
To meet the Sun upon the upland Lawn.
There at the Foot of yonder nodding Beech
That wreathes its old fantastic Roots so high,
His listless Length at Noontide wou'd he stretch,
And pore upon the Brook that babbles by."
Who wrote this poem?
These are some of the final lines of Thomas Gray’s famous Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.
Passage adapted from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray, ln.95-104 (1751)
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If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Some hidden Spirit shall inquire thy Fate,
Haply some hoary-headed Swain may say,
"Oft have we seen him at the Peep of Dawn
Brushing with hasty Steps the Dews away
To meet the Sun upon the upland Lawn.
There at the Foot of yonder nodding Beech
That wreathes its old fantastic Roots so high,
His listless Length at Noontide wou'd he stretch,
And pore upon the Brook that babbles by."
Which of the following is a line from the poem that later became the title for an 1874 English novel?
The novel in question is Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, which concerns a love triangle between a shepherd, a wealthy farmer, and a young woman named Bathsheba.
Passage adapted from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray, ln.95-104 (1751)
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If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Some hidden Spirit shall inquire thy Fate,
Haply some hoary-headed Swain may say,
"Oft have we seen him at the Peep of Dawn
Brushing with hasty Steps the Dews away
To meet the Sun upon the upland Lawn.
There at the Foot of yonder nodding Beech
That wreathes its old fantastic Roots so high,
His listless Length at Noontide wou'd he stretch,
And pore upon the Brook that babbles by."
Which of the following is not a prevalent theme in the poem?
Although the poem is set in a country churchyard, it does not discuss rural problems, including agrarian reform. Rather, the setting provides an idyllic backdrop for the deeper existential musings of the poem.
Passage adapted from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray, ln.95-104 (1751)
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If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Some hidden Spirit shall inquire thy Fate,
Haply some hoary-headed Swain may say,
"Oft have we seen him at the Peep of Dawn
Brushing with hasty Steps the Dews away
To meet the Sun upon the upland Lawn.
There at the Foot of yonder nodding Beech
That wreathes its old fantastic Roots so high,
His listless Length at Noontide wou'd he stretch,
And pore upon the Brook that babbles by."
The poem from which this passage is excerpted ends with which of the following?
An "epitaph" is a written commemoration of a person’s life, often on a gravestone. Even if you didn’t know how the poem ended, an epitaph would be the most logical choice to end this poem. An "epigraph" is a short quotation (usually presented at the beginning of a novel or other published work), an "epigram" is a short or witty saying, an "epistle" is a letter, and an "epicure" is someone who appreciates fine food and beverages. The particular epitaph at the end of this poem memorializes a poet who died with his work unknown, an insight into Gray’s own views of his work.
Passage adapted from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray, ln.95-104 (1751)
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This British poet began one of his best-known works, a highly allusive poem about the small inner torments of a modern man, with the lines “Let us go then, you and I.”
This poem is T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” a modernist classic. The poem represented an important shift from older forms of verse to a looser, more imagistic modern form. Eliot, who lived from 1888 to 1965, is one of the best-known British poets of his times, although he was actually born in America. He is known for his critical work such as the essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” his plays, and his frequently anthologized poems, including “The Waste Land,” “The Hollow Men,” “Ash Wednesday,” and “Four Quartets.” He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
Line adapted from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot, l.1 (1920)
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This poet, who wrote vividly about his experiences at the Battles of the Somme and Ypres in poems concerning World War I, also wrote The Good Soldier and Parade’s End. Who is he?
Although Sassoon is one of the best known poets of the First World War, the poet in question is actually Ford Madox Ford, who was a novelist as well as an editor and a critic. Among Ford’s volumes of poetry is one he wrote as a soldier during the war: On Heaven, and Poems Written on Active Service.
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This English-born poet and visual artist spent much of her life in Paris, where she wrote work distinguished by its feminist and Futurist influences and its avant-garde vocabulary and syntax. Some distinctive works include Songs to Joannes, Feminist Manifesto and “Aphorisms on Futurism.” Who is she?
The poet described is Mina Loy. Djuna Barnes was the American-born poet, playwright, and fiction writer who wrote Nightwood; Gertrude Stein was the American-born poet and visual artist who hosted famous salons in Paris; Virginia Woolf was an English essayist and novelist who wrote such classics as the essay A Room of One’s Own and the novel Mrs. Dalloway; and Marie Laurencin was a French poet, printmaker, and painter who was often identified as Guillaume Apollinaire’s muse.
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This English-American poet’s most famous poems include “Stop All the Clocks” (alternately titled “Funeral Blues”) and “Musée des Beaux Arts,” in which he uses Pieter Bruegel’s painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus to examine human suffering and mundane daily life. Who is he?
This poet is W. H. Auden, who wrote everything from limericks and haikus to ballads and villanelles. His work examined romantic relationships, politics, nature, religion, art, and ethics. He lived from 1907 to 1973.
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This Irish Nobel Prize-winning poet is famous for works such as “Digging” and his or her modern translation of Beowulf.
Heaney, born in Northern Ireland in 1939, published more than a dozen volumes of poetry and wrote or edited many more critical works, anthologies, and translations. He is considered one of Ireland’s greatest poets.
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