- 1. The 'Collected Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay' is a comprehensive anthology that encapsulates the literary genius of one of America’s most celebrated poets and playwrights of the early 20th century. Known for her breathtaking lyricism and passionate themes, Millay's works traverse a wide array of emotions and experiences, delving into love, loss, nature, and the complexities of human relationships. This collection not only features her renowned poetry, such as her iconic sonnets and evocative free verse, but also showcases her less familiar works, revealing the depth of her creative spirit across various forms, including prose and drama. Millay's voice, characterized by its boldness and musicality, often challenges societal norms, reflecting her feminist ideals and advocacy for women's rights during a period marked by rigid gender roles. Readers of the 'Collected Works' are treated to a journey through Millay's life and evolution as an artist, capturing the essence of her contributions to modernist literature while celebrating her unique perspective on the world around her. This anthology serves not just as a testament to her literary accomplishments, but also as an invitation to explore the enduring relevance of her themes in contemporary discourse.
Which of these is the title of Millay's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection from 1923?
A) "A Few Figs from Thistles"
B) "Second April"
C) "The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems"
D) "Renascence and Other Poems"
- 2. Millay's early fame was established by which long poem published in 1912?
A) "Dirge Without Music"
B) "Renascence"
C) "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver"
D) "Elegy Before Death"
- 3. What was Millay's pen name, used for prose works?
A) Michael Strange
B) George Eliot
C) Sara Teasdale
D) Nancy Boyd
- 4. Which prestigious women's college did Millay attend?
A) Smith College
B) Bryn Mawr College
C) Wellesley College
D) Vassar College
- 5. The line "My candle burns at both ends" opens which famous Millay poem?
A) "First Fig"
B) "Love is not all"
C) "Recuerdo"
D) "Second Fig"
- 6. What is the name of the poetic drama Millay wrote for the Provincetown Players?
A) "The King's Henchman"
B) "Conversation at Midnight"
C) "The Lamp and the Bell"
D) "Aria da Capo"
- 7. Which opera features a libretto written by Millay?
A) "The King's Henchman"
B) "Vanessa"
C) "Porgy and Bess"
D) "The Ballad of Baby Doe"
- 8. In "Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink," what is the speaker's ultimate conclusion about love?
A) She would not trade love for survival
B) Love is a physical necessity
C) Love is worthless compared to food
D) Love is a fleeting illusion
- 9. Which of these poets was a contemporary and friend of Millay?
A) Elinor Wylie
B) Sylvia Plath
C) Anne Sexton
D) Emily Dickinson
- 10. Millay's "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver" is a poem primarily about what relationship?
A) Two lovers
B) Two sisters
C) A king and his servant
D) A mother and son
- 11. Which literary award did Millay win in 1923, making her the third woman to do so?
A) Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
B) Bollingen Prize
C) National Book Award
D) Nobel Prize in Literature
- 12. Which of these is a posthumously published collection of Millay's poems?
A) "Mine the Harvest"
B) "Second April"
C) "Wine from These Grapes"
D) "The Buck in the Snow"
- 13. The sonnet "I, being born a woman and distressed" explores tensions between what?
A) Physical desire and intellectual independence
B) Wealth and poverty
C) Urban and rural life
D) Youth and old age
- 14. Which war is a central subject of Millay's collection "The Murder of Lidice"?
A) World War II
B) The American Civil War
C) World War I
D) The Vietnam War
- 15. Millay's writing style is often characterized by its what?
A) Use of slang and colloquialism
B) Intentional obscurity and difficulty
C) Lengthy, prosaic lines
D) Technical precision and emotional intensity
- 16. Which of the following is a famous sonnet sequence by Edna St. Vincent Millay?
A) Fatal Interview
B) North of Boston
C) Spoon River Anthology
D) The Waste Land
- 17. What was Millay's preferred poetic form, for which she was particularly renowned?
A) Villanelle
B) Sonnet
C) Haiku
D) Free Verse
- 18. What was the name of the bohemian New York City neighborhood where Millay lived after college?
A) Greenwich Village
B) SoHo
C) Brooklyn Heights
D) Harlem
- 19. The sonnet sequence 'Fatal Interview' is loosely modeled on the works of which poet?
A) Petrarch
B) John Donne
C) Shakespeare
D) Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- 20. Which literary figure was a close friend and correspondent of Millay's?
A) Ernest Hemingway
B) Edmund Wilson
C) Gertrude Stein
D) F. Scott Fitzgerald
- 21. Millay's work was particularly celebrated for its mastery of:
A) Experimental typography
B) Traditional forms with modern themes
C) Collaborative creation
D) Epic narrative poetry
- 22. The line 'I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground' is from which elegy?
A) Elegy Before Death
B) Dirge Without Music
C) Lament
D) Memorial to D.C.
- 23. Which literary figure was a key patron who helped Millay attend Vassar College?
A) Ezra Pound
B) Caroline B. Dow
C) Edith Wharton
D) Robert Frost
- 24. What is the name of the farm in New York where Millay lived for many years and wrote much of her work?
A) Walden
B) Green Gables
C) The Mount
D) Steepletop
- 25. In which year was Millay's celebrated collection 'A Few Figs from Thistles' first published?
A) 1917
B) 1920
C) 1925
D) 1922
- 26. The poem 'Recuerdo' is about a memory of a joyful night spent traveling on a:
A) Train
B) Streetcar
C) Bus
D) Ferry
- 27. What is the title of Millay's 1920 poetry collection known for its rebellious tone?
A) Fatal Interview
B) The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver
C) Wine from These Grapes
D) A Few Figs from Thistles
- 28. What is the title of Millay's 1921 poetry collection?
A) First August
B) Third May
C) Final December
D) Second April
- 29. What is the meter commonly used in Millay's sonnets?
A) Trochaic tetrameter
B) Anapestic trimeter
C) Dactylic hexameter
D) Iambic pentameter
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