Identification of British Poetry
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AP English Literature and Composition › Identification of British Poetry
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
T. S. Eliot
W. H. Auden
Hart Crane
Conrad Aiken
Explanation
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.
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
T. S. Eliot
W. H. Auden
Hart Crane
Conrad Aiken
Explanation
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.
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
An epigraph
An epistle
An epigram
An epicure
Explanation
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)
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
An epigraph
An epistle
An epigram
An epicure
Explanation
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)
This Irish Nobel Prize-winning poet is famous for works such as “Digging” and his or her modern translation of Beowulf.
Seamus Heaney
W. B. Yeats
Lady Gregory Augusta
Robert Burns
Ted Hughes
Explanation
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.
This Irish Nobel Prize-winning poet is famous for works such as “Digging” and his or her modern translation of Beowulf.
Seamus Heaney
W. B. Yeats
Lady Gregory Augusta
Robert Burns
Ted Hughes
Explanation
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.
Which Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet wrote such works as “The Second Coming” and “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and helped found the Abbey Theatre?
W. B. Yeats
Seamus Heaney
Lady Gregory Augusta
Robert Burns
Ted Hughes
Explanation
This poet is William Butler Yeats, who, along with Seamus Heaney, is one of Ireland’s best known poets. Born in Dublin in 1865, Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923 and was a major figure in the Irish Literary Revival movement. His work was preoccupied with themes of Irish mythology and transcendentalism, and the poems mentioned above are two of his most famous.
Which Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet wrote such works as “The Second Coming” and “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and helped found the Abbey Theatre?
W. B. Yeats
Seamus Heaney
Lady Gregory Augusta
Robert Burns
Ted Hughes
Explanation
This poet is William Butler Yeats, who, along with Seamus Heaney, is one of Ireland’s best known poets. Born in Dublin in 1865, Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923 and was a major figure in the Irish Literary Revival movement. His work was preoccupied with themes of Irish mythology and transcendentalism, and the poems mentioned above are two of his most famous.
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?
Piers Plowman
The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Troilus and Cressida
Pyramus and Thisbe
Explanation
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
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?
Piers Plowman
The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Troilus and Cressida
Pyramus and Thisbe
Explanation
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