Winter: My Secret

Question 1

rhyme scheme

Answer 1

irregular

ABBACC

Question 2

identity

Answer 2

“I” and “My” shows her individual identity

possessive

Question 3

written and published

Answer 3

1857

1862

Question 4

metre

Answer 4

is iambic, which ensures that the rhyming sounds are stressed

Question 5

listener and speaker

Answer 5

“today” and “frozen”

the conversation is going to and fro

Question 6

secret

Answer 6

“my secret’s mine”

determined, mine of her own

Question 7

power

Answer 7

manipulation of power- speaker withholds the power and control - Simon Avery

Question 8

2nd stanza

Answer 8

has faster speed

reflecting the cold wind

Question 9

her thoughts

Answer 9

“thro’ my hall”

entrance to her thoughts

Question 10

internal rhymes

Answer 10

“bounding and surrounding” and “astounding”

“nipping and clipping”

replicates the fast movement of the wind

Question 11

wind

Answer 11

“nipping and clipping”

sharp, cold sounds

Question 12

concealment

Answer 12

“I wear my mask”

hidden from others

Question 13

russia

Answer 13

“Russian snows”

link to Crimean war or hard Russian winters

Question 14

3rd stanza

Answer 14

contains enjambement

overflowing thoughts

“yet I don’t trust/ March”

Question 15

quickens pace

Answer 15

by adding couplets and triplets

Question 16

perhaps

Answer 16

“perhaps”

teases reader, playful tone

empowered woman

Question 17

the speaker

Answer 17

skillfully withholds power and control as it might not even be a secret and instead “just my fun”

Question 18

this poem reveals

Answer 18

a complex negotiation of power which enables the woman to gain equality

Question 19

personal interpretations

Answer 19

Lona Parker - Rossetti’s love for William Bell Scott

Kathleen Jones - Rossetti’s growing affection for Charles Crawley

Question 20

feminist interpretation

Answer 20

a “celebration of independence” - Richard Gill