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Sonnet 55 - Test
Contributed by: Bennett
  • 1. In which year were William Shakespeare's sonnets published?
A) 1616
B) 1599
C) 1609
D) 1588
  • 2. How many sonnets did William Shakespeare publish in 1609?
A) 154
B) 100
C) 120
D) 200
  • 3. What is the rhyme scheme of a typical English or Shakespearean sonnet?
A) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
B) ABC ABC DEF DEF
C) AABB CCDD EEFF GG
D) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE
  • 4. What type of poetic metre is used in Sonnet 55?
A) Iambic pentameter
B) Dactylic dimeter
C) Anapestic hexameter
D) Trochaic tetrameter
  • 5. What does Sonnet 55 claim will outlast physical monuments?
A) Masonry structures
B) The poem itself
C) War memorials
D) Statues of princes
  • 6. Which ancient works are referenced in Sonnet 55?
A) Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Poetics
B) Horace's Odes and Ovid's Metamorphoses
C) Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad
D) Dante's Divine Comedy and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
  • 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) Engle believes Shakespeare's poetry is inferior to ancient works
C) He argues that statues are more enduring than poetry
D) Shakespeare bestows immortality on another through his poetry, unlike Horace and Ovid who claimed it for themselves
  • 9. What does Ernest Fontana focus on in the second quatrain of Sonnet 55?
A) The grandeur of monuments
B) The epithet 'sluttish time'
C) The power of war
D) The beauty of the young man
  • 10. According to Fontana, what does Shakespeare's use of 'besmeared' imply?
A) It describes the weathering of stone statues
B) It signifies the purity of marble monuments
C) It highlights the resilience of masonry
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 always regards them with contempt
C) The speaker only focuses on their physical attributes
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 keyword 'live'
C) The glory of war
D) The beauty of nature
  • 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 Folger Library
B) The Globe Theatre
C) The British Museum
D) Westminster Abbey
  • 15. What style of handwriting was used for the epitaph found in the Folger Library?
A) Italic hand
B) Secretary hand
C) Cursive script
D) Gothic script
  • 16. What imagery is used in Sonnet 55 to describe time?
A) "Sluttish time"
B) "Golden age"
C) "Silent night"
D) "Eternal spring"
  • 17. Which word does Ernest Fontana suggest Shakespeare intended as a metaphor for venereal disease?
A) "Living"
B) "Shining"
C) "Besmeared"
D) "Obvious"
  • 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 are celebrated by all.
C) They transform into golden statues.
D) They become 'unswept stone besmeared'.
  • 19. What is the central theme of Sonnet 55 according to Helen Vendler?
A) Death
B) War
C) Love
D) Time
  • 20. Which word does Vendler identify as revolving around in Sonnet 55, indicating different aspects of life and memory?
A) "Live"
B) "Forget"
C) "Remember"
D) "Die"
  • 21. In what century was the secretary hand style of handwriting commonly used?
A) 17th Century
B) 19th Century
C) 18th Century
D) 16th Century
  • 22. What color ink was the epitaph written in?
A) Brown ink
B) Black ink
C) Red ink
D) Blue ink
  • 23. Where is Shakespeare buried?
A) Westminster Abbey
B) The Tower of London
C) Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
D) St. Paul's Cathedral
  • 24. Which sonnet contains lines echoed in the epitaph found for Shakespeare?
A) Sonnet 18
B) Sonnet 116
C) Sonnet 55
D) Sonnet 73
  • 25. Who discovered the epitaph in the Folger Library?
A) Robert Evans
B) An unknown author
C) Richard Briers
D) William Shakespeare
  • 26. What sequence is Sonnet 55 a part of?
A) Fair Youth sequence
B) Dark Lady sequence
C) Procreation sequence
D) Rival Poet sequence
  • 27. How many quatrains does an English sonnet contain?
A) Four
B) Two
C) Three
D) One
  • 28. Between which other items were the lines of the verse found?
A) A series of poems by Shakespeare
B) A collection of sonnets
C) Two other epitaphs
D) Letters from contemporaries
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