Reading Poetry Practice Exercises: GED Language Arts, Reading (page 3)

The study guide for these practice questions can be found at:

GED Test Preparation: Reading Poetry Study Guide

Read the following passages and answer the related questions.

Passage 1

The following poem is by Emily Dickinson.

The Chariot
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

1. The image of death presented in stanza 1 is that of
   1. an indifferent driver.
   2. a kindly gentleman.
   3. an immortal god disguised as a human.
   4. a demon.
   5. none of the above
2. The main idea of the poem is that
   1. death kidnaps its victims and drives away emotionlessly.
   2. death is dull; its chief torment is boredom.
   3. death is a gentle timeless journey, simply leaving life's cares behind.
   4. death is an eternity.
   5. death is a horrific journey.
3. In stanza 2, the word haste can be defined as
   1. sorrow.
   2. hurry.
   3. guilt.
   4. happiness.
   5. hate.
4. The image described in stanza 4 most closely represents
   1. a blurring of life and death.
   2. an inability of the dead to focus on the world of the living.
   3. a description of the grave.
   4. a last image of security one sees before one dies.
   5. a description of a child's playground.
5. One can infer from the tone of the poem that the speaker
   1. views Death as a pleasant companion.
   2. views Death as an intruder.
   3. views Death as a figure of authority.
   4. views Death as an intimate friend.
   5. views Death as a bitter enemy.

Passage 2

The following poem is by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

The Eagle
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

6. Given the tone of the poem, and noting especially the last line, what is the eagle most likely doing in the poem?
   1. dying of old age
   2. hunting prey
   3. learning joyfully to fly
   4. sleeping peacefully
   5. keeping watch over a nest of young eagles
7. To which of the following do the words azure world most likely refer?
   1. a forest
   2. the sky
   3. the cliff
   4. a grassy field
   5. nature
8. In line 1 of stanza 2, to which of the following does the verb crawls refer?
   1. waves
   2. sunlight on the water
   3. the eagle's prey
   4. the eagle
   5. an eaglet
9. The first line of this poem is an example of
   1. rhyme scheme.
   2. irony.
   3. alliteration.
   4. stanza.
   5. symbolism.
10. The last line of the poem is an example of
    1. personification.
    2. metaphor.
    3. paradox.
    4. falling action.
    5. simile.

Passage 3

The following poem is by Sir Walter Scott.

Patriotism
Breathes there the man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
  "This is my own, my native land!"
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned
As home his footsteps he hath turned
  From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.

11. What is the thesis of this poem?
    1. Those who do not love their country will not be honored.
    2. The poorest citizens are the truest patriots.
    3. Those who become rich must hate their country.
    4. Wandering around the world helps us love home.
    5. Patriotism is the last refuge for scoundrels.
12. What is the most likely meaning of the word pelf in line 11?
    1. stealth
    2. animal skins
    3. wealth
    4. to steal
    5. poverty
13. What does the poem mean when it states that such people will be doubly dying?
    1. They will not die alone.
    2. They will die, then rise again.
    3. Their death will be painful.
    4. Their death will be painless.
    5. They will die physically and also be forgotten.
14. One can infer from this poem that Sir Walter Scott
    1. hated America.
    2. loved his homeland.
    3. was from Great Britain.
    4. spoke many languages.
    5. was a traitor to his homeland.
15. What does the word concentred in line 12 most likely mean?
    1. swirling, curved
    2. arrogant, proud
    3. focused, centered
    4. loathsome, wayward
    5. none of the above

Passage 6

The following poem is by Robert Frost.

Closed for Good
Much as I own I owe
The passers of the past
Because their to and fro
Has cut this road to last,
I owe them more today
Because they've gone away

And come not back with steed
And chariot to chide
My slowness with their speed
And scare me to one side.
They have found other scenes
For haste and other means.

They leave the road to me
To walk in saying naught
Perhaps but to a tree
Inaudibly in thought,
"From you the road receives
A priming coat of leaves.

"And soon for lack of sun,
The prospects are in white
It will be further done,
But with a coat so light
The shape of leaves will show
Beneath the brush of snow."

And so on into winter
Till even I have ceased
To come as a foot printer,
And only some slight beast
So mousy or so foxy
Shall print there as my proxy.

26. Why does the speaker in this poem say, I owe them more today / Because they've gone away?
    1. The people who made the road have left it to him to walk on.
    2. The people of the past were unpleasant company.
    3. He is in debt and can't pay it back.
    4. The people of the past don't owe him anything.
    5. He paid people to leave him alone.
27. What is the rhyme scheme of the second stanza?
    1. a, a, b, b, a, b
    2. a, b, c, a, b, c
    3. a, b, a, b, c, c
    4. a, b, b, b, b, c
    5. There is no rhyme scheme.
28. What does the word proxy mean in the last line?
    1. walking in the poet's footsteps
    2. doing something on behalf of the speaker
    3. gluing something to the tree
    4. standing next to the tree
    5. a will
29. What meter is this line written in: They leave the road to me?
    1. dactylic pentameter
    2. anapestic trimeter
    3. iambic trimeter
    4. iambic pentameter
    5. anapestic pentameter
30. This poem is an example of
    1. imagistic poetry.
    2. argumentative poetry.
    3. sonnet.
    4. elegy.
    5. acrostic poetry.

Answers

Passage 1

1. b.   Line 2 of stanza 1 states that Death kindly stopped for the speaker. Choice a is incorrect because indifferent would suggest that Death did not acknowledge the speaker. Choices c and d are incorrect because the poem does not relate that the character, Death, is either an immortal god or a demon.
2. c.   This choice fits the kindness of Death, as stated by the speaker, as well as the fact that Death knew no haste. Also it includes the idea that the speaker put away… labour and leisure, too, for his civility. This supports the image of Death as gentle, timeless, and leaving of life's cares behind.
3. b.   The meaning of the word can be deduced from the context of the line. Because he is driving slowly, Death knows no haste. This is a matter of opposites. None of the other choices are the opposite of slowly.
4. c.   The swelling of the ground… the roof scarcely visible… [the cornice] but a mound. All of these are descriptive of a grave with its gravestone.
5. a.   Death is a pleasant companion; the speaker only describes him in positive, gentle terms.

Passage 2

6. b.   The eagle watches from his mountain walls and falls like a thunderbolt. Saying that the eagle watches and then falls like a thunderbolt implies alertness and then striking, respectively. The most logical choice is that the eagle is hunting.
7. b.   The word azure means blue and is often used to describe the sky. Neither a forest nor cliffs are azure (choices a and c), and the poem does not specifically mention either a grassy field or nature (choices d and e).
8. a.   It is the wrinkled sea that crawls.
9. c.   The first line repeats the letter c: He clasps the crag with crooked hands. Alliteration is a repetition of a consonant sound in one or more lines of a poem.
10. e.   The last line tells us that the eagle falls like a thunderbolt. A simile compares two or more things by using like or as.

Passage 3

11. c.   The word pelf means wealth or riches. You can determine this meaning from the context because Scott has been listing various forms of riches and honor; and in the same line of the poem, he mentions titles and power.
12. e.   Those who do not love their homeland will die twice in the sense that first they will die physically, and then their memory will die with them—they will be forgotten. Scott does not mention any specific form of death; his focus is merely on the fact that such people do not contribute anything to society and will, therefore, be forgotten by future generations.
13. b.   Scott probably loved his homeland, since his poem is condemning people who dont. He was, in fact, from Great Britain, but this is not mentioned in the poem.
14. c.   The word concentred is a poetic form of centered or focused, and Scott is suggesting that such people are self-centered and selfish. This can be determined by the context, which drives home the idea that unpatriotic individuals are selfish, focused entirely upon riches and power and honor—rather than on the nation, which makes those things possible.

Passage 4

16. b.   This is a sonnet, a poem that follows a very specific format. Sonnets have 14 lines; most are written in iambic pentameter and follow a specific rhyme scheme.
17. a.   Shakespeare is suggesting that it would be inadequate to compare his love to summertime, because the summer does not last long, whereas his love is eternal. The phrase summers lease refers to the fact that the seasons are only temporary. The short date that he refers to means that the season is short, not that it is almost summertime.
18. d.   The context speaks of the eye of heaven as shining, and also of being too hot. These things apply to the sun, not to the moon or to birds. The gold complexion also suggests the sun, not the eye of a god looking down.
19. e.   The poet is speaking to someone he loves, and he is trying to express the idea that his love will last forever.
20. d.   Shakespeare is saying that, even though his lover will one day die, the poem itself will live forever. This means that, in some way, his lover will live forever, as well.

Passage 5

21. a.   The poem describes a group of soldiers, called the Light Brigade, who are charging into certain death because they were commanded to do so. They are charging into the face of cannons, and they suspect that someone blundered (gave the wrong command)—but they are obeying just the same.
22. c.   A blunder is a mistake, something that someone did accidentally. In this poem, the blunder appears to be that a superior officer gave the Light Brigade a bad command. The soldiers have no chance of surviving.
23. d.   The soldiers know that someone has issued a foolish order, but they also know that a soldier obeys his superior officers. Theirs not to reason why means that it is not a soldier's duty to question the orders that he is given; his duty is to obey those orders—even when it is clear that the order means certain death.
24. b.   The phrases jaws of death and mouth of hell are examples of personification because the author is taking the abstract concept of death and treating it as though it were a living person—a person who has a mouth and jaws. The image then becomes quite powerful, as the reader can picture death actually biting and eating its victims.
25. b.   The author is honoring the brave men who charged against the enemy's cannons, even though they knew that they would not likely survive the charge. The poem does depict the horrors of war, but that is not its central focus. Tennyson is concerned mostly with the brave obedience of the Light Brigade.

Passage 6

26. a.   The speaker is saying that he owes a debt to those who made the road, but an even greater debt because they have stopped using it and left him to walk on it in peace.
27. c.   The rhyme scheme is a, b, a, b, c, c.
28. b.   The word proxy means on behalf of someone else. If you vote by proxy, for example, you are allowing someone else to cast your vote on your behalf. The speaker in the poem is saying that a fox or mouse will make footprints in the snow on his behalf when he can't be there.
29. c.   Most of this poem is written in iambic trimeter. The iambic meter is one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable, and there are three feet per line—making it trimeter. Pentameter, on the other hand, is five feet per line.
30. a.   This is an imagistic poem, one that tries to help the reader to visualize something by describing it in words. Frost is trying to paint a picture in the reader's mind of the autumn road that he's walking on, and even what that road will be like when covered with snow and walked by mice and foxes.