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A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
If the speaker feels that his life is nearing an end, what most strongly makes that argument?
The lingering brown leaf that "Comes softly rattling down" (line 12) from the bare standing tree connotes more than the other choices that the speaker might believe his life is nearing an end (i.e., it is falling like the last leaf of Autumn).
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Adapted from Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" in Leaves of Grass (1855)
1
Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face!
Clouds of the west—sun there half an hour high—I see you also face to face.
Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.
2
The impalpable sustenance of me from all things at all hours of the day,
The simple, compact, well-join’d scheme, myself disintegrated, every one disintegrated yet part of the scheme,
The similitudes of the past and those of the future,
The glories strung like beads on my smallest sights and hearings, on the walk in the street and the passage over the river,
The current rushing so swiftly and swimming with me far away,
The others that are to follow me, the ties between me and them,
The certainty of others, the life, love, sight, hearing of others.
Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore,
Others will watch the run of the flood-tide,
Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east,
Others will see the islands large and small;
Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half an hour high,
A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them,
Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring-in of the flood-tide, the falling-back to the sea of the ebb-tide.
3
It avails not, time nor place—distance avails not,
I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence,
Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt,
Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd,
Just as you are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d,
Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried,
Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemm’d pipes of steamboats, I look’d.
I too many and many a time cross’d the river of old,
Watched the Twelfth-month sea-gulls, saw them high in the air floating with motionless wings, oscillating their bodies,
Saw how the glistening yellow lit up parts of their bodies and left the rest in strong shadow,
Saw the slow-wheeling circles and the gradual edging toward the south,
Saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water,
Had my eyes dazzled by the shimmering track of beams . . .
Which of the following statements would the speaker of the poem most likely agree with?
Repeatedly, the speaker expresses his conviction that shared experience connects people across time and distance. This might be most clear in the lines that begin the third stanza: "It avails not, time nor place—distance avails not, / I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence."
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Adapted from "The Mouse’s Petition" in Poems by Anna Letitia Barbauld (1773)
Found in the trap where he had been confined all night by Dr. Priestley, for the sake of making experiments with different kinds of air
“To spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud.” - Virgil
OH! hear a pensive captive's prayer,
For liberty that sighs;
And never let thine heart be shut
Against the prisoner's cries.
For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate;
And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.
If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain.
Oh! do not stain with guiltless blood
Thy hospitable hearth;
Nor triumph that thy wiles betray'd
A prize so little worth.
The scatter'd gleanings of a feast
My scanty meals supply;
But if thine unrelenting heart
That slender boon deny,
The cheerful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given;
Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.
The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
If mind, as ancient sages taught,
A never dying flame,
Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms,
In every form the same,
Beware, lest in the worm you crush
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
Or, if this transient gleam of day
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast,
That little all to spare.
So may thy hospitable board
With health and peace be crown'd;
And every charm of heartfelt ease
Beneath thy roof be found.
So when unseen destruction lurks,
Which men like mice may share,
May some kind angel clear thy path,
And break the hidden snare.
Which of the following issues is most relevant to the poem's overall argument?
This poem discusses and advocates for a minimum standard of ethical care and consideration for all sentient beings. This standard of care extends to basic freedoms of movement and access to "the common gifts of heaven" by all of "nature's commoners." The poem also asserts the consideration and importance of all "pensive," conscious beings, not just humans.
While the poem is, by virtue of being concerned with all sentient beings, concerned with the treatment of animal companions and work animals, it also extends this concern to all sentient creatures, even a random "worm" which one might "crush" while walking, the worm in that example being neither a work animal nor a companion, but still a creature worthy of consideration.
While hospitality and generosity are a key aspect of the ethical care and consideration advocated in this poem, the reasoning behind this lies in the inherent rights of sentient creatures, not an increasingly dangerous and fractured world.
Prisoners of war and religious dissenters are not specifically mentioned.
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Adapted from "Old Man Traveling" by William Wordsworth in Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798 ed.)
The little hedge-row birds,
That peck along the road, regard him not.
He travels on, and in his face, his step,
His gait, is one expression; every limb,
His look and bending figure, all bespeak
A man who does not move with pain, but moves
With thought—He is insensibly subdued
To settled quiet: he is one by whom
All effort seems forgotten, one to whom
Long patience has such mild composure given,
That patience now doth seem a thing, of which
He hath no need. He is by nature led
To peace so perfect, that the young behold
With envy, what the old man hardly feels.
—I asked him whither he was bound, and what
The object of his journey; he replied
"Sir! I am going many miles to take
"A last leave of my son, a mariner,
"Who from a sea-fight has been brought to Falmouth,
And there is dying in an hospital."
What does the speaker argue has led to the man's composure?
The speaker states that “\[the man\] is one by whom / All effort seems forgotten, one to whom / Long patience has such mild composure given,” so we can say it is argued that “long-term patience” has given the man his composure. So if we look for the closest answer to “long-term patience,” we should find that “long-enduring forbearance” is the correct answer, as “forbearance” can mean patient self-control. We can also come to this answer by eliminating the other answers which do not replicate the argument presented in the quoted lines.
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Passage adapted from Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Spring" (1921).
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know. 5
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify? 10
Not only under the ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. 15
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
The idea that "Beauty is not enough," is reinforced throughout the text by __________.
The idea that "Beauty is not enough," is reinforced through the blunt language of the poem. While poetry is traditionally associated with lyricism (the quality of being artistically beautiful), this poem is written with directness and bluntness, without the intent of seeming overly beautiful or elaborate. This bluntness can be heard in the use of short declarative sentences and the bitter, sarcastic tone.
The use of springtime imagery offers the rare glimpse of what could be considered beautiful imagery in the poem, which would not support the idea that beauty is not enough.
The use of apostrophe (addressing an inanimate object or concept directly, as one would address another person) does elevate the language of the poem. However, this does not support the idea that beauty is not enough, since apostrophe makes the language of the poem more aesthetically pleasing, rather than less so.
The poem does not contain a conceit (an extended metaphor that governs the entire poem) or florid language (overly fancy or flowery speech).
This poem does not contain any parables (short allegorical stories that convey moral or religious lessons).
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Passage adapted from "To Some Ladies" (1817) by John Keats
What though while the wonders of nature exploring,
I cannot your light, mazy footsteps attend;
Nor listen to accents, that almost adoring,
Bless Cynthia's face, the enthusiast's friend:
(5) Yet over the steep, whence the mountain stream rushes,
With you, kindest friends, in idea I rove;
Mark the clear tumbling crystal, its passionate gushes,
Its spray that the wild flower kindly bedews.
Why linger you so, the wild labyrinth strolling?
(10) Why breathless, unable your bliss to declare?
Ah! you list to the nightingale's tender condoling,
Responsive to sylphs, in the moon beamy air.
'Tis morn, and the flowers with dew are yet drooping,
I see you are treading the verge of the sea:
(15) And now! ah, I see it—you just now are stooping
To pick up the keep-sake intended for me.
If a cherub, on pinions of silver descending,
Had brought me a gem from the fret-work of heaven;
And smiles, with his star-cheering voice sweetly blending,
(20) The blessings of Tighe had melodiously given;
It had not created a warmer emotion
Than the present, fair nymphs, I was blest with from you,
Than the shell, from the bright golden sands of the ocean
Which the emerald waves at your feet gladly threw.
(25) For, indeed, 'tis a sweet and peculiar pleasure,
(And blissful is he who such happiness finds,)
To possess but a span of the hour of leisure,
In elegant, pure, and aerial minds.
What line most acutely reveals the speaker's feeling of frustration?
While the author's overall tone can be described as adoration or love, there are hints that his love is not fully reciprocated, or that he is separated from his love in some way. He alludes to this in several places (ex. "mazy footsteps," line 2) but most openly belies these feelings with his mention of a labyrinth in line 9.
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Of arms I sing, and of the man, whom Fate
First drove from Troy to the Lavinian shore.
Full many an evil, through the mindful hate
Of cruel Juno, from the gods he bore,
Much tost on earth and ocean, yea, and more (5)
In war enduring, ere he built a home,
And his loved household-deities brought o’er
To Latium, whence the Latin people come,
Whence rose the Alban sires, and walls of lofty Rome.
How could the narrator’s journey from Troy best be described?
Based on line 5, “Much tost on earth and ocean,” we can infer that the journey was not a smooth or gentle one. Tumultuous, or turbulent and tempestuous, is the best synonym. Although line 6 does mention war, it does not state that the narrator’s journey itself was warlike or bellicose. Similarly, there is no textual support for exuberant (joyful), laconic (terse), or gelid (frigid).
Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor. (1907)
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Of arms I sing, and of the man, whom Fate
First drove from Troy to the Lavinian shore.
Full many an evil, through the mindful hate
Of cruel Juno, from the gods he bore,
Much tost on earth and ocean, yea, and more (5)
In war enduring, ere he built a home,
And his loved household-deities brought o’er
To Latium, whence the Latin people come,
Whence rose the Alban sires, and walls of lofty Rome.
After the narrator’s journey, what does the passage indicate happens to him?
Lines 5-6 note that the character bears first the wrath of the gods and the tumultuous journey and then “more / In war enduring.” In other words, he continues to face difficulties and hardship. All the other choices employ words or phrases mentioned in the passage, but none of them correctly capture the meaning of the passage.
Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor. (1907)
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… Sir, ’twas not
Her husband’s presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek… She had
A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er (5)
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule (10)
She rode with round the terrace—all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men—good! but thanked
Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name (15)
With anybody’s gift.
Based on the tone of the passage, what is the narrator’s attitude toward the Duchess?
The speaker’s tone is at times humorous, at times irritated, and this is the very definition of “wry.” He is not, however, outright spiteful toward her; the passage lacks malice. He is certainly not joyful about his former wife’s lack of good judgment, but neither is he envious or crestfallen because of it.
Passage adapted from Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” (1842)
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… Sir, ’twas not
Her husband’s presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek… She had
A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er (5)
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule (10)
She rode with round the terrace—all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men—good! but thanked
Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name (15)
With anybody’s gift.
(1842)
Which of the following excerpts provides the best example of the Duchess’s ostensibly poor judgment?
In lines 10-11, we see the clearest example of something worthless that the Duchess values: a simple white mule. We’re told around these lines that the Duchess counts the sunset, a branch of cherry blossoms, and this mule as equals. Because the mule is the last and most ridiculous item listed, we can infer that it’s also the item that the speaker thinks is most telling.
Passage adapted from Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” (1842)
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1 Why did I laugh tonight? No voice will tell:
No god, no demon of severe response,
Deigns to reply from heaven or from hell.
Then to my human heart I turn at once--
5 Heart! Thou and I are here sad and alone;
Say, wherefore did I laugh? O mortal pain!
O darkness! darkness! ever must I moan,
To question heaven and hell and heart in vain!
9 Why did I laugh? I know this being's lease--
My fancy to its utmost blisses spreads:
Yet could I on this very midnight cease,
And the world's gaudy ensigns see in shreds.
13 Verse, fame, and beauty are intense indeed,
But death intenser--death is life's high meed.
(1819)
If the speaker perceives that there is something genuinely joyful in his laughter, which of the following best supports this?
"My fancy to its utmost blisses spreads" (line 10) signals that the speaker felt his laughter to be genuinely joyful. The rest of the poem emphasizes the speaker's perplexity at how a person can be happy even though they are going to die someday. This line (line 10), however, is evidence that the laughter in question was not insincere or bitter, but genuine.
Passage adapted from "Why did I laugh tonight?" by John Keats (1819)
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I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,(5)
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;(10)
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
According to the passage, which parts of the statue remain?
According to line 2, the statue’s “vast and trunkless legs of stone” (i.e. its legs but not its torso) remain. According to line 4, the statue’s “visage” (i.e. its face) also remains. The reference to hand and heart in line 8 refer to the sculpture’s commissioner (i.e. the king) and not the sculpture itself.
Passage adapted from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” (1818)
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So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, (5)
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
(1817)
This poem’s advice to the reader could best be summed up by which saying?
The poem warns the reader to prepare to meet death – not reluctantly, “like the quarry-slave at night,” but rather confidently and calmly (“sustained and soothed / By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, / Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch / About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams”). Implicit in this advice is the advice to live one’s life fully. In other words: carpe diem.
Passage adapted from William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis” (1817)
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I saw thee once—once only—years ago:
I must not say how many—but not many.
It was a July midnight; and from out
A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring,
Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven, (5)
There fell a silvery-silken veil of light,
With quietude, and sultriness and slumber,
Upon the upturn'd faces of a thousand
Roses that grew in an enchanted garden,
Where no wind dared to stir, unless on tiptoe— (10)
Based on the content of the passage, what has since happened to the addressee?
In lines 4-5, we see an explanation: “A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring, / Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven.” In other words, the addressee’s soul has left his or her body. This is a clear euphemism for death.
Passage adapted from Edgar Allan Poe’s “To Helen” (1831)
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To the Dead in the Grave-Yard Under My Window
by Adelaide Crapsey (1878 - 1915)
The poem directly addresses all of the following EXCEPT _______________.
This question is asking you to identify the one answer that is not supported by the text.
The speaker talks about the longing for freedom ("I watch all night and not one ghost comes forth/ To take its freedom of the midnight hour.") She expresses restlessness, resentment, and disobedience ("I’ll not be patient! I will not lie still!")
But though the poem deals with illness and death, it does not mention old age. "Old age" is the correct answer.
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