Sonnet 55 - Test

1. In which year were William Shakespeare's sonnets published?

A) 1609
B) 1588
C) 1616
D) 1599

2. How many sonnets did William Shakespeare publish in 1609?

A) 200
B) 120
C) 154
D) 100

3. What is the rhyme scheme of a typical English or Shakespearean sonnet?

A) ABC ABC DEF DEF
B) AABB CCDD EEFF GG
C) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
D) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE

4. What type of poetic metre is used in Sonnet 55?

A) Trochaic tetrameter
B) Anapestic hexameter
C) Dactylic dimeter
D) Iambic pentameter

5. What does Sonnet 55 claim will outlast physical monuments?

A) Statues of princes
B) Masonry structures
C) War memorials
D) The poem itself

6. Which ancient works are referenced in Sonnet 55?

A) Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad
B) Dante's Divine Comedy and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
C) Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Poetics
D) Horace's Odes and Ovid's Metamorphoses

7. What does John Crowe Ransom point out about the promises of immortality in Sonnet 55?

A) The poem is self-refuting as it keeps the young man mostly hidden
B) It guarantees eternal life for both the poet and the subject
C) It clearly describes the young man's physical features
D) It focuses on the poet's own immortality

8. What does Lars Engle argue about Shakespeare's claim regarding poetry?

A) Shakespeare claims that only royalty can achieve immortality
B) Shakespeare bestows immortality on another through his poetry, unlike Horace and Ovid who claimed it for themselves
C) Engle believes Shakespeare's poetry is inferior to ancient works
D) He argues that statues are more enduring than poetry

9. What does Ernest Fontana focus on in the second quatrain of Sonnet 55?

A) The grandeur of monuments
B) The power of war
C) The beauty of the young man
D) The epithet 'sluttish time'

10. According to Fontana, what does Shakespeare's use of 'besmeared' imply?

A) It highlights the resilience of masonry
B) It signifies the purity of marble monuments
C) It describes the weathering of stone statues
D) It metaphorically refers to syphilis and its effects on the body

11. How does Helen Vendler describe the speaker's attitude towards entities connected to the beloved?

A) The speaker bestows grandeur on them when connected to the beloved, but mocks them otherwise
B) The speaker only focuses on their physical attributes
C) The speaker always regards them with contempt
D) The speaker is indifferent to their connection to the beloved

12. What theme does Vendler argue revolves around in Sonnet 55?

A) The inevitability of death
B) The glory of war
C) The beauty of nature
D) The keyword 'live'

13. What does the couplet in Sonnet 55 suggest about the young man's existence?

A) The young man will only live physically until the Last Judgment
B) He will cease to exist after his death
C) 'Real' living is assigned to the day of the Last Judgment, but he also lives in memory and lovers' eyes
D) His existence is limited to the poem itself

14. Where was an epitaph written in memory of Shakespeare found?

A) The British Museum
B) The Globe Theatre
C) Westminster Abbey
D) The Folger Library

15. What style of handwriting was used for the epitaph found in the Folger Library?

A) Italic hand
B) Cursive script
C) Gothic script
D) Secretary hand

16. What imagery is used in Sonnet 55 to describe time?

A) "Golden age"
B) "Silent night"
C) "Eternal spring"
D) "Sluttish time"

17. Which word does Ernest Fontana suggest Shakespeare intended as a metaphor for venereal disease?

A) "Obvious"
B) "Living"
C) "Shining"
D) "Besmeared"

18. How does Helen Vendler describe the transformation of monuments in Sonnet 55 when they are not connected to the beloved?

A) They shine brighter.
B) They become 'unswept stone besmeared'.
C) They are celebrated by all.
D) They transform into golden statues.

19. What is the central theme of Sonnet 55 according to Helen Vendler?

A) Love
B) Time
C) War
D) Death

20. Which word does Vendler identify as revolving around in Sonnet 55, indicating different aspects of life and memory?

A) "Die"
B) "Forget"
C) "Live"
D) "Remember"

21. In what century was the secretary hand style of handwriting commonly used?

A) 16th Century
B) 19th Century
C) 18th Century
D) 17th Century

22. What color ink was the epitaph written in?

A) Black ink
B) Red ink
C) Blue ink
D) Brown ink

23. Where is Shakespeare buried?

A) Westminster Abbey
B) St. Paul's Cathedral
C) The Tower of London
D) Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon

24. Which sonnet contains lines echoed in the epitaph found for Shakespeare?

A) Sonnet 116
B) Sonnet 73
C) Sonnet 55
D) Sonnet 18

25. Who discovered the epitaph in the Folger Library?

A) William Shakespeare
B) Robert Evans
C) Richard Briers
D) An unknown author

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