Poems

Question 1

Raven, The

Answer 1

Edgar Allan Poe, 1845. A poem centered around an unnamed narrator’s journey into madness after realizing he will never forget his lost Lenore.

Question 2

Edgar Allan Poe, 1845. A poem centered around an unnamed narrator’s journey into madness after realizing he will never forget his lost Lenore.

Answer 2

Raven, The

Question 3

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Answer 3

Emily Dickinson, 1890. The personification of Death visits the poem’s speaker and takes her on a carriage ride to the afterlife.

Question 4

Emily Dickinson, 1890. The personification of Death visits the poem’s speaker and takes her on a carriage ride to the afterlife.

Answer 4

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Question 5

Still I Rise

Answer 5

Maya Angelou, 1978. In the poem, Angelou reveals how she will overcome anything through her self-esteem. She shows how nothing can get her down. She will rise to any occasion and nothing, not even her skin color, will hold her back.

Question 6

Maya Angelou, 1978. In the poem, Angelou reveals how she will overcome anything through her self-esteem. She shows how nothing can get her down. She will rise to any occasion and nothing, not even her skin color, will hold her back.

Answer 6

Still I Rise

Question 7

Ozymandias

Answer 7

Percy Shelley, 1818. A crumbling statue of a ruler as a way to portray the transience of political power and to praise art’s ability to preserve the past.

Question 8

Percy Shelley, 1818. A crumbling statue of a ruler as a way to portray the transience of political power and to praise art’s ability to preserve the past.

Answer 8

Ozymandias

Question 9

Road Not Taken, The

Answer 9

Robert Frost, 1915. A poem that describes the dilemma of a person standing at a road with diversion.

Question 10

Robert Frost, 1915. A poem that describes the dilemma of a person standing at a road with diversion.

Answer 10

Road Not Taken, The

Question 11

O Captain! My Captain!

Answer 11

Walt Whitman, 1865. A elegy in memory of deceased American President Abraham Lincoln.

Question 12

Walt Whitman, 1865. A elegy in memory of deceased American President Abraham Lincoln.

Answer 12

O Captain! My Captain!

Question 13

To Time

Answer 13

Sylvia Plath, 1952. The Poem depicts time as a great machine that moves through history confining and draining all life of its essence and matter.

Question 14

Sylvia Plath, 1952. The Poem depicts time as a great machine that moves through history confining and draining all life of its essence and matter.

Answer 14

To Time

Question 15

I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain

Answer 15

Emily Dickinson, 1861. The speaker experiences the loss of self in the chaos of the unconscious, and the reader experiences the speaker’s descending madness and the horror most of us feel about going crazy.

Question 16

Emily Dickinson, 1861. The speaker experiences the loss of self in the chaos of the unconscious, and the reader experiences the speaker’s descending madness and the horror most of us feel about going crazy.

Answer 16

I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain

Question 17

Song of Wandering Aengus, The

Answer 17

William Butler Yeats, 1897. A poem about the magic and dangers of infatuation. Its speaker, Aengus, catches an enchanted fish that turns into a beautiful young woman who calls Aengus’s name and then runs away. The smitten Aengus tries, and fails, for years to find her.

Question 18

William Butler Yeats, 1897. A poem about the magic and dangers of infatuation. Its speaker, Aengus, catches an enchanted fish that turns into a beautiful young woman who calls Aengus’s name and then runs away. The smitten Aengus tries, and fails, for years to find her.

Answer 18

Song of Wandering Aengus, The

Question 19

Do Not Stand At my Grave and Weep

Answer 19

Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932. In this touching poem the poet offers words of comfort for those who would mourn for her at her passing, and she seems to welcome death not as the ending of a life, but as the beginning of another.

Question 20

Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932. In this touching poem the poet offers words of comfort for those who would mourn for her at her passing, and she seems to welcome death not as the ending of a life, but as the beginning of another.

Answer 20

Do Not Stand At my Grave and Weep

Question 21

If

Answer 21

Rudyard Kipling, 1895. An inspirational poem that provides advice on how one should live one’s life. The poem takes the reader through various ways in which the reader can rise above adversity that will almost certainly be thrown one’s way at some point.

Question 22

Rudyard Kipling, 1895. An inspirational poem that provides advice on how one should live one’s life. The poem takes the reader through various ways in which the reader can rise above adversity that will almost certainly be thrown one’s way at some point.

Answer 22

If

Question 23

This World is not Conclusion

Answer 23

Emily Dickinson, 1862. The poet exploring and analyzing our attitudes to death and what awaits us beyond.

Question 24

Emily Dickinson, 1862. The poet exploring and analyzing our attitudes to death and what awaits us beyond.

Answer 24

This World is not Conclusion

Question 25

Trees

Answer 25

Joyce Kilmer, 1913. In twelve lines of rhyming couplets of iambic tetrameter verse, describes what the author perceives as the inability of art created by humankind to replicate the beauty achieved by nature.

Question 26

Joyce Kilmer, 1913. In twelve lines of rhyming couplets of iambic tetrameter verse, describes what the author perceives as the inability of art created by humankind to replicate the beauty achieved by nature.

Answer 26

Trees

Question 27

Sonnet 18

Answer 27

William Shakespeare, 1609. In the sonnet, the speaker asks whether he should compare the Fair Youth to a summer’s day, but notes that he has qualities that surpass a summer’s day, which is one of the themes of the poem.

Question 28

William Shakespeare, 1609. In the sonnet, the speaker asks whether he should compare the Fair Youth to a summer’s day, but notes that he has qualities that surpass a summer’s day, which is one of the themes of the poem.

Answer 28

Sonnet 18

Question 29

Byzantium

Answer 29

William Butler Yeats, 1983. The imagined spiritual and artistic rebirth of humanity, which involves the purging of spirits as midnight arrives and their final journey to enlightenment on dolphins across the sea.

Question 30

William Butler Yeats, 1983. The imagined spiritual and artistic rebirth of humanity, which involves the purging of spirits as midnight arrives and their final journey to enlightenment on dolphins across the sea.

Answer 30

Byzantium

Question 31

Ode on Intimations of Immortality

Answer 31

Williams Wordsworth, 1807. The poem begins with the speaker mourning the loss of his youth and the deeper connection he used to have to the natural world. He tries to touch the emotion of the past but is unable. There’s always something missing. The speaker reflects on what it means to age, and in the fifth stanza declares that we come from a world that is more heavenly than earth. It is with the memory of this place that we see the earth, at least at first. Eventually, we grow older, forget these experiences and are taken in by the earth itself.

Question 32

Williams Wordsworth, 1807. The poem begins with the speaker mourning the loss of his youth and the deeper connection he used to have to the natural world. He tries to touch the emotion of the past but is unable. There’s always something missing. The speaker reflects on what it means to age, and in the fifth stanza declares that we come from a world that is more heavenly than earth. It is with the memory of this place that we see the earth, at least at first. Eventually, we grow older, forget these experiences and are taken in by the earth itself.

Answer 32

Ode on Intimations of Immortality

Question 33

Love After Love

Answer 33

Derek Walcott, 1976. A poem of consolation addressed to anyone who’s suffered a breakup or other romantic disappointment. Assuring such sufferers that things will get better, the speaker depicts the recovery process as one of reconnecting with—and relearning to love—one’s inner self.

Question 34

Derek Walcott, 1976. A poem of consolation addressed to anyone who’s suffered a breakup or other romantic disappointment. Assuring such sufferers that things will get better, the speaker depicts the recovery process as one of reconnecting with—and relearning to love—one’s inner self.

Answer 34

Love After Love

Question 35

Bonedog

Answer 35

Eva H.D., 2023. The Poem considers the process of coming home every day and how terribly lonely it is. In the first lines the speaker begins by stating that arriving home from anywhere can be painful, even if home was where “you” wanted to be all day. It’s the same thing every day.

Question 36

Eva H.D., 2023. The Poem considers the process of coming home every day and how terribly lonely it is. In the first lines the speaker begins by stating that arriving home from anywhere can be painful, even if home was where “you” wanted to be all day. It’s the same thing every day.

Answer 36

Bonedog

Question 37

Song of Myself

Answer 37

Walt Whitman, 1855. An ode to individuality and originality. As the end of the poem suggests, the author is not to be defined or tied down. He is immortal in the sense that even after he dies, his matter will meld into the earth, growing forth so many leaves of grass.

Question 38

Walt Whitman, 1855. An ode to individuality and originality. As the end of the poem suggests, the author is not to be defined or tied down. He is immortal in the sense that even after he dies, his matter will meld into the earth, growing forth so many leaves of grass.

Answer 38

Song of Myself

Question 39

Man with the Blue Guitar, The

Answer 39

Wallace Stevens, 1937. A statement about the relations between reality (often symbolized by green), imagination (symbolized by blue), and understanding or interpretation through art. “Things as they are Are changed upon the blue guitar.”

Question 40

Wallace Stevens, 1937. A statement about the relations between reality (often symbolized by green), imagination (symbolized by blue), and understanding or interpretation through art. “Things as they are Are changed upon the blue guitar.”

Answer 40

Man with the Blue Guitar, The

Question 41

Swan at Edgewater Park

Answer 41

Ruth L. Schwartz, 2012. This poem uses the swan as a metaphor for Lorie at 27 with all her mistakes and bad choices taking away her likelihood of a good life. At 16, she was full of promise, the world awaiting. Now, like a once magnificent swan, her chances of escaping the dirt and detritus, seem dim.

Question 42

Ode On A Grecian Urn

Answer 42

John Keats, 1819. Art, Beauty, and Truth. This poem examines the close relationship between art, beauty, and truth. For the speaker, it is through beauty that humankind comes closest to truth—and through art that human beings can attain this beauty (though it remains a bittersweet achievement).

Question 43

John Keats, 1819. Art, Beauty, and Truth. This poem examines the close relationship between art, beauty, and truth. For the speaker, it is through beauty that humankind comes closest to truth—and through art that human beings can attain this beauty (though it remains a bittersweet achievement).

Answer 43

Ode On A Grecian Urn

Question 44

Ruth L. Schwartz, 2012. This poem uses the swan as a metaphor for Lorie at 27 with all her mistakes and bad choices taking away her likelihood of a good life. At 16, she was full of promise, the world awaiting. Now, like a once magnificent swan, her chances of escaping the dirt and detritus, seem dim.

Answer 44

Swan at Edgewater Park