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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 áll trádes, 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 versification of the poem would be best classified as __________.
Sprung rhythm is a rhythmic structure that was developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Rather than using lines built around metric feet containing a set number of syllables, sprung rhythm is structured around feet with a variable number of syllables, with the stress always falling on the first syllable in the foot. Sprung rhythm is based on the rhythmic structure of Anglo-Saxon poetry.
Passage adapted from "Pied Beauty" by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1918)
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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.
This poem from which this excerpt is taken best exemplifies __________.
A pastoral elegy is a poem of mourning sung by or featuring a shepherd or shepherds. The poem from which this is taken is among the most famous pastoral elegies written in the English Language. The fact that the excerpt begins "Oh weep for Adonais!" should clue you in to the fact that it is from some type elegiac poem, and the description of the "Passion-winged Ministers of thought" as the deceased's "Flocks" is a clear indication of a conventional pastoral elegy.
Passage adapted from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley, I.1-9 (1821)
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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 verse form in this poem most closely resembles that in which of the following works?
Shelley wrote the poem in what are known as Spenserian stanzas. The Spenserian stanza was first invented by Edmund Spenser for his allegorical epic, The Faerie Queene, and consists of eight lines of iambic pentameter followed by an alexandrine (a line of iambic hexameter). The rhyme scheme of the Spenserian Stanza is A-B-A-B-B-C-B-C-C.
Passage adapted from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley, I.1-9 (1821)
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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 genre is this poem classified as?
The Rape of the Lock is a famous mock-heroic poem. This genre of poetry parodies classical epics, exaggerating situations and characters to make them worthy of (satirically) epic narratives.
Passage adapted from Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, I.1-12(1712; ed. 1906)
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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 meter of this poem?
Like most mock-heroic poems, this work relies on heroic couplets, or rhyming lines of iambic pentameter.
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."
What form does this poem take?
Although the poem’s title suggests it is an elegy, the work is really more similar to an ode, or a lyrical stanza. The poem is mainly concerned with a deep contemplation of death and life after death, and it mourns general human mortality much more than any single individual in the churchyard.
Passage adapted from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray, ln.95-104 (1751)
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Most epic poets plunge 'in medias res'
(______ makes this the heroic turnpike road),
And then your hero tells, whene'er you please,
What went before—by way of episode,
While seated after dinner at his ease,
Beside his mistress in some soft abode,
Palace, or garden, paradise, or cavern,
Which serves the happy couple for a tavern.
That is the usual method, but not mine—
My way is to begin with the beginning;
The regularity of my design
Forbids all wandering as the worst of sinning,
And therefore I shall open with a line
(Although it cost me half an hour in spinning)
Narrating somewhat of Don Juan's father,
And also of his mother, if you'd rather.
Who is the author referred to in line 2?
The Roman poet Horace wrote Ars Poetica, a how-to guide or instruction manual for aspiring poets in which he coined the phrase "in medias res," which translates to into the middle of things. To create reader interest from the get-go, Horace recommends that poets start from the middle point of a story, instead of from the beginning, and this is what Byron takes issue with here, albeit ironically.
Note the "Horace," "heroic", "hero" alliteration.
While Longinus did write a treatise on poetry (On the Sublime), he is not associated with the doctrine of "in medias res."
Furthermore, the meter calls for a disyllabic (two-syllable) word, so "Longinus" and "Petronius" wouldn't really scan.
Passage adapted from Don Juan by George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron) (1819)
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Most epic poets plunge 'in medias res'
(______ makes this the heroic turnpike road),
And then your hero tells, whene'er you please,
What went before—by way of episode,
While seated after dinner at his ease,
Beside his mistress in some soft abode,
Palace, or garden, paradise, or cavern,
Which serves the happy couple for a tavern.
That is the usual method, but not mine—
My way is to begin with the beginning;
The regularity of my design
Forbids all wandering as the worst of sinning,
And therefore I shall open with a line
(Although it cost me half an hour in spinning)
Narrating somewhat of Don Juan's father,
And also of his mother, if you'd rather.
How do the two highlighted lines relate to each other?
The stanzas are highly ironic as Byron, on the one hand, goes to great pains to explain how dangerous it is to digress (the sin of "wandering") when writing poetry but, on the other hand, takes great pleasure in digressing at the same time.
This irony is brought to the fore with the "sinning"/"spinning" rhyme. Describing how long it took him to pen the line instead of actually getting on with the story is an example of a digression that has nothing to do with the actual story of Don Juan. As such, the line makes a mockery of the idea that "wandering" is the worst of sinning.
Passage adapted from Don Juan by George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron) (1819)
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Most epic poets plunge 'in medias res'
(______ makes this the heroic turnpike road),
And then your hero tells, whene'er you please,
What went before—by way of episode,
While seated after dinner at his ease,
Beside his mistress in some soft abode,
Palace, or garden, paradise, or cavern,
Which serves the happy couple for a tavern.
That is the usual method, but not mine—
My way is to begin with the beginning;
The regularity of my design
Forbids all wandering as the worst of sinning,
And therefore I shall open with a line
(Although it cost me half an hour in spinning)
Narrating somewhat of Don Juan's father,
And also of his mother, if you'd rather.
The author of this stanza is __________.
The two stanzas are from Canto I of Lord Byron's "epic satire" Don Juan. The other three authors are not known for reworkings of the Don Juan story.
More tellingly, the style of the work and the stanzas quoted—ironic and irreverent—is very different from the styles of Wordsworth, Blake, and Clare, who strove for a "natural", straightforward, non-ironic diction in their poetry.
Passage adapted from Don Juan by George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron) (1819)
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Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning, how the Heavens and Earth
Rose out of Chaos: or if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the oracle of God: I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
(John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I.)
What is the main verb in the first ten lines of the excerpt above?
The imperative "sing" (line 6) is the dominant verb of the first clause of the passage, which the narrating voice directs at the clause's understood subject, the "Muse." The other verbs listed as options appear within subordinate clauses and do not govern the entire ten-line section.
Adapted from Paradise Lost: A Poem, in Twelve Books (London: J. & H. Richter, 1794): 1-2 by John Milton
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Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning, how the Heavens and Earth
Rose out of Chaos: or if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the oracle of God: I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
(John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I.)
Which of the following terms best describes the style of verse in which the above excerpt was written?
Milton's Paradise Lost (the source of the above quotation) is entirely in blank verse: a form with a fixed meter (usually iambic pentameter) but without a prescribed rhyme structure.
This should not be confused with free verse_,_ which has neither a regular meter nor a pattern of end-stopped rhymes.
Terza rima is a form written in three-line stanzas composed of three interlocking ending rhymes.
Sprung rhythm is a pattern of verse in which only stressed syllables are counted, but the number of stresses is consistent from line to line.
A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines of consistent length and one of several conventional rhyming patterns.
Adapted from Paradise Lost: A Poem, in Twelve Books (London: J. & H. Richter, 1794): 1-2 by John Milton
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Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The only simile throughout this sonnet is .
"like an usurp'd town" (line 5) is the only simile throughout this sonnet, as it makes a direct comparison between two apparently unlike things—the poet and an usurp'd town—with the word "like." When constructing similes, the word "as" is also used.
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Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
At its most basic level, the theme of this poem is .
At its most basic level, the theme of this sonnet is religion (that is, the poet's wish for God's more forceful intervention in his life).
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Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
Which of the following excerpts represents for the poet God's more gentle, yet insufficient, manifestations of love?
For the poet, God's "as yet" (line 2) knocking, shining, breathing, and mending are not sufficiently extreme to "Batter" (line 1) his heart, as a battering ram would.
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Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The major extended metaphor of the sonnet is the poet representing himself as .
The major extended metaphor of the sonnet is the poet representing himself as a captured city, as he is "like an usurp'd town" (line 5), until the typical sonnet turn in line 9.
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Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The metaphysical conceit of the "usurp'd town" (line 5) turns at line 9 to .
The metaphysical conceit of the "usurp'd town" (line 5) turns at line 9 to the metaphor of an already engaged lover "betroth'd unto your enemy" (line 10). A metaphysical conceit is simply an extended metaphor with rather complex logic.
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Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
Throughout the poem, the poet seemingly demonstrates his interest in combining __________.
Throughout the poem, the poet seemingly demonstrates his interest in combining love of the sacred and love of the earthly, as he petitions God "Take me to you, imprison me, for I,/ Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,/ Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me" (line 12 - 14).
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Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The only example of alliteration throughout this sonnet is .
"break, blow, burn," (line 4) is the only example of alliteration throughout this sonnet, as each word has the same sound at its beginning.
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Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The "enemy" of line 10 is very probably .
As the poet is addressing the Christians' God, the "three-person'd God" (line 1), the "enemy" of line 10 is very likely the devil who would be, according to Christians, the enemy of God.
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1 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
2 Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
3 Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
4 And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
5 Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
6 And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
7 And every fair from fair sometime declines,
8 By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
9 But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
10 Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
11 Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
12 When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
13 So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
14 So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
This poem is a(n) __________.
This poem is a sonnet. Specifically, it is a Shakespearean or an English sonnet, characterized by 14 lines written in iambic pentameter, concluding with a rhyming couplet.
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