John Masefield

Question 1

a spike used to drive cattle

Answer 1

goad

Question 2

sovereigns; monarchs

Answer 2

potentates

Question 3

the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger when the hand is fully extended

Answer 3

span

Question 4

loud, prolonged noise

Answer 4

din

Question 5

rhythm; cadence; inflection

Answer 5

lilt

Question 6

happiness; joy

Answer 6

mirth

Question 7

the action of declaring something or someone sacred

Answer 7

consecration

Question 8

triumphant; joyful

Answer 8

jubilant

Question 9

rubbish; waste

Answer 9

dross

Question 10

related; near; close

Answer 10

akin

Question 11

whom the speaker honors in stanza 1 of “A Consecration”

Answer 11

“the scorned - the rejected - the men hemmed in with the spears”

Question 12

what the world is better with

Answer 12

a song

Question 13

a metaphor in “Laugh and Be Merry”

Answer 13

“So we must laugh and drink from the blue cup of the sky”

Question 14

“But the lads who carried the koppie and cannot be known.”

Answer 14

alliteration

Question 15

“Laugh, for the time is brief …”

Answer 15

“a thread the length of a span”

Question 16

whom the speaker does not honor in stanza 3 of “A Consecration”

Answer 16

“the be-medalled Commander, beloved of the throne,

Riding cock-horse to parade when the bugles are blown”

Question 17

“Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends.”

Answer 17

refers to death

Question 18

“Laugh and be proud to belong …”

Answer 18

“to the old proud pageant of man”

Question 19

whom the speaker honors in stanza 4 of “A Consecration”

Answer 19

the ranker (soldier), the tramp, the slave, and the man with too weighty a burden

Question 20

“Of these shall my songs be fashioned, my tales be told. Amen.”

Answer 20

Masefield declares his poetic vision and purpose.