poem comprehensions.docx

8/20/2019 poem comprehensions.docx

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The following poem is by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Consider the title of this poem as a

guide to meaning.

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ringed with the azure world he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

. !i"en the tone of the poem, and noting especially the last line, what is the eagle

most likely doing in the poem#

a. dying of old age

b. hunting prey

c. learning $oyfully to %y

d. keeping watch o"er a nest of young eagles

&. To which of the following do the underlined words azure world most likely refer#

a. a forest

b. the sky

c. the cli'

d. nature

(.)n the second stanza, *rst line, to which of the following does the "erb crawls refer#

a. wa"es

b. sunlight on the water

c. the eagle+s prey

d. the eagle itself

e.

This poem, by mily -ickinson, is a sort of riddle.

A Narrow Fellow in the Grass

A narrow ellow in the grass

/ccasionally rides0

1ou may ha"e met him0did you not


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His notice sudden is0

The !rass di"ides as with a Comb0

A spotted shaft is seen0

And then it closes at your feet

And opens further on0

He likes a 2oggy Acre0

A loor too cool for Corn0

1et when a 2oy, and 2arefoot0

) more than once at 3oon

Ha"e passed, ) thought, a 4hip5lash

6nbraiding in the 7un0

4hen, stooping to secure it,

)t wrinkled, and was gone0

7e"eral of 3ature+s 8eople

) know, and they know me0

) feel for them a transport

/f cordiality0

2ut ne"er met this ellow,

Attended, or alone0

4ithout a tighter breathing

And zero at the bone0

4ho or what is the Fellow in this poem#

a. a whip5lash

b. a snake

c. a gust of wind

d. a boy

The phrase Without a tighter breathing / And zero at the bone most nearly

indicates

e. fright.


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f. cold.

g. grief.

h. awe.

The phrase Nature's 8eople means

i. nature5lo"ers.

$. children.

k. animals.

l. neighbors.

The speaker of this poem is most likely

m. an adult woman.

n. an adult man.

o. mily -ickinson, the poet.

p. a young boy.)t+s true that poems often ha"e two le"els0one literal, one *gurati"e. The ne9t

poem, also by mily -ickinson, is full of images from nature

Apparently with No Surprise

Apparently with no surprise

To any happy %ower,

The frost beheads it at its play

)n accidental power.

The blond assassin passes on,

The sun proceeds unmo"ed

To measure o' another day

or an appro"ing !od.

4hich of the following most nearly describes the author+s attitude toward nature as

e9pressed in this poem#

delight

dismay

indi'erence

re"erence

The poem implies that the attitude of the %owers toward the frost is one of

fear.


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horror.

acceptance.

re"erence.

The tone of the poem implies that the speaker probably regards !od as

bene"olent.

$ust.

cruel.

angry.

This poem by 7ir 4alter 7cott.

Patriotism

2reathes there the man with soul so dead,

4ho ne"er to himself hath said,

:This is my own, my nati"e land:

4hose heart hath ne+er within him burned

As home his footsteps he hath turned

rom wandering on a foreign strand#

)f such there breathe, go, mark him well;

or him no


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wealth

stealth

health

4hat is the poet+s main idea in this poem#

Those who become rich must hate their country.

Tra"eling abroad helps a person appreciate home.

Those who do not lo"e their country will not be honored.

8atriotism is the last refuge for scoundrels.

4hat does the poem mean that such people will be :doubly dying: >three lines from

the end?#

They will not die alone.

They will die physically and also be forgotten.

Their death will be painful. They will die, then rise again.

4hat does the underlined word concentred most likely mean#

swirling or cur"ed

arrogant, proud

focused on, concerned with

looking upward

/ne can infer from this poem that 7ir 4alter 7cott

lo"ed his homeland.

was from !reat 2ritain.

hated war.

spoke many languages.

This ne9t poem is by 4illiam 7hakespeare.

The Seven Ages of Man

All the world+s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They ha"e their e9its and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.

His acts being se"en ages. At *rst the infant,


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=ife is a play and it follows a speci*c script, none of which should cause

anguish or sorrow.

=ife is a comedy, and we are all bu'oons in pantaloons no matter what we do.

4hat is the theme of the poem#

-eath is to be feared.

=ife is a circle that brings us back to the beginning.

The male of the species is the only true measure of the stages of life.

The stages of life are unrelated and can be altered by each indi"idual+s free

will.

The poet uses the words merely >line &? and mere >line &?

to soften the e'ect of the strong images he presents to us in those lines.

to tie together his theme of the cycle of life.

con"ey his tone to the reader.

all of the abo"e.

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

The Fog

I saw the fog grow thick

Which soon made blind my ken;

It made tall men of boys, nd giants of tall men.

It clutched my throat, I coughed;

!othing was in my head"#cept two hea$y eyes

%ike balls of burning lead.

nd when it grew so black

That I could know no place

I lost all &udgment then, 'f distance or of space.

The street lamps, and the lights

(pon the halted cars,)ould either be on earth

'r be the hea$enly stars.

man passed by me close,

I asked my way, he said,

*)ome, follow me, my friend * +


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I followed where he led.

e rapped the stones in front, *Trust me,* he said, * and come*;

I followed like a child +

a blind man led me home.

W. H. Davis

-.It clutched my throat, I coughed tells us that

/

0the poet was suffocating because of the fog

/10the fog and the poet were fighting fiercely

/)0the fog held the poet by the throat

/2

0the poet had a sore throat

3.The following statements are true except

/0

the fog grew so thick that the poet could not get his directions right

/10a blind man who was also lost came to help the poet

/)0the fog caused the poet to see things differently

/2

0the fog hut the poets eyes

4.The word halted shows that the cars were probably

/

0 stolen /10mo$ing

/)0e#pensi$e

/2

0stationary


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5. ... the stones in front in the last stan6a refers to

/0

the stones the blind man carried in a pouch in front of him

/10the stones that were lying by the side of the road

/)0the road they were on

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loose gra$el

7.The blind man could lead the poet through the fog because he

/

0was wearing a pair of sunglasses

/10had been to the poets house

/)0had a stick with him

/2

0knew his way

8.The last stan6a of the poem tells us that

/

0the blind man was boastful

/10the poet trusted the blind man

/)0the poet could not return home

/2

0the fog had hurt the feelings of the poet

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poem comprehensions.docx