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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is NOT hanging "in the balance before its due time" (ll. 68-70)?
(a) Age.
(b) Attack by the sword.
(c) Being put in prison.
(d) Illness.

2. Whence does the narrator's thought fly out (l. 58)?
(a) His breast.
(b) His head.
(c) His belly.
(d) His ears.

3. In the phrase “summer’s guardian announces sorrow” (l. 54), relative stress / emphasis DOES NOT fall on the first syllable of which of the following?
(a) Announces.
(b) Guardian.
(c) Sorrow.
(d) Summer's.

4. In l. 80, “delight among heaven’s host. The days are lost,” there is an example of which of the following?
(a) Euphemism.
(b) Enthrallment.
(c) Enjambment.
(d) End-stop.

5. The narrator states that “Joy is laid low, / the earth’s nobility grows old and withers, / just like every man throughout this middle-earth” (ll. 88-90). The sentence offers an example of which of the following?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Analogy.
(c) Simile.
(d) Conceit.

6. Which of the following does the narrator exclude from the mind of one who seeks to sail (ll. 44-47)?
(a) Sadness and sorrow.
(b) Piles of silver.
(c) The tumbling waves.
(d) Joy in the world.

7. In the phrase “he always has longing who hastens to sea” (l. 47), how many relatively stressed / emphasized syllables are present?
(a) 4.
(b) 2.
(c) 3.
(d) 5.

8. What happens to the earth's nobility (l. 89)?
(a) It goes away.
(b) It increases.
(c) It withers.
(d) It eats.

9. In the phrase “nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord” (l. 41), how many times is the alliteration iterated?
(a) 5.
(b) 4.
(c) 3.
(d) 2.

10. How long does the narrator claim a brave person's praise will endure (ll. 78-79)?
(a) A year.
(b) Forever.
(c) One day.
(d) Never.

11. To which of the following does "his fleshly cloak" (l. 94) refer?
(a) Skirt steak.
(b) Parchment.
(c) Body.
(d) Bearskin rug.

12. Per the narrator, what "is the best eulogy" (ll. 72-73)?
(a) The sturdiest statue.
(b) The largest grave-marker.
(c) The piles of plenty.
(d) The praise of posterity.

13. The narrator remarks that "The joys of the Lord than this dead life" are which of the following (ll. 64-65)?
(a) Softer.
(b) Hotter.
(c) Colder.
(d) Sweeter.

14. Line 66, “loaned, on land. I will never believe,” offers an example of which of the following?
(a) Ensorcellment.
(b) Enjambment.
(c) Enthrallment.
(d) End-stop.

15. What “hangs in the balance before its due time" (ll. 68-69)?
(a) One of three things.
(b) One of five things.
(c) One thing.
(d) One of two things.

Short Answer Questions

1. With which of the following does the narrator note "a brother might wish to strew his brother's / grave" (ll. 97-98)?

2. The phrase “roams widely over the whale’s home” (l. 60) offers an example of which of the following?

3. Which of the following will "urge the eager-hearted / spirit to travel" (ll. 48-52)?

4. What does the narrator claim is a gift that does not help against fear?

5. To what is the narrator's heart incited irresistibly (l. 63)?

(see the answer keys)

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