- 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) "The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems"
C) "Renascence and Other Poems"
D) "Second April"
- 2. Millay's early fame was established by which long poem published in 1912?
A) "Renascence"
B) "Elegy Before Death"
C) "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver"
D) "Dirge Without Music"
- 3. What was Millay's pen name, used for prose works?
A) Michael Strange
B) Nancy Boyd
C) Sara Teasdale
D) George Eliot
- 4. Which prestigious women's college did Millay attend?
A) Smith College
B) Vassar College
C) Wellesley College
D) Bryn Mawr College
- 5. The line "My candle burns at both ends" opens which famous Millay poem?
A) "Recuerdo"
B) "Love is not all"
C) "First Fig"
D) "Second Fig"
- 6. What is the name of the poetic drama Millay wrote for the Provincetown Players?
A) "The Lamp and the Bell"
B) "Conversation at Midnight"
C) "The King's Henchman"
D) "Aria da Capo"
- 7. Which opera features a libretto written by Millay?
A) "The King's Henchman"
B) "Porgy and Bess"
C) "Vanessa"
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) Love is worthless compared to food
B) She would not trade love for survival
C) Love is a physical necessity
D) Love is a fleeting illusion
- 9. Which of these poets was a contemporary and friend of Millay?
A) Anne Sexton
B) Emily Dickinson
C) Sylvia Plath
D) Elinor Wylie
- 10. Millay's "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver" is a poem primarily about what relationship?
A) A mother and son
B) Two lovers
C) Two sisters
D) A king and his servant
- 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) "Wine from These Grapes"
B) "Mine the Harvest"
C) "The Buck in the Snow"
D) "Second April"
- 13. The sonnet "I, being born a woman and distressed" explores tensions between what?
A) Wealth and poverty
B) Urban and rural life
C) Youth and old age
D) Physical desire and intellectual independence
- 14. Which war is a central subject of Millay's collection "The Murder of Lidice"?
A) World War I
B) The American Civil War
C) World War II
D) The Vietnam War
- 15. Millay's writing style is often characterized by its what?
A) Lengthy, prosaic lines
B) Use of slang and colloquialism
C) Technical precision and emotional intensity
D) Intentional obscurity and difficulty
- 16. Which of the following is a famous sonnet sequence by Edna St. Vincent Millay?
A) The Waste Land
B) Fatal Interview
C) North of Boston
D) Spoon River Anthology
- 17. What was Millay's preferred poetic form, for which she was particularly renowned?
A) Haiku
B) Villanelle
C) Sonnet
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) Shakespeare
B) Elizabeth Barrett Browning
C) Petrarch
D) John Donne
- 20. Which literary figure was a close friend and correspondent of Millay's?
A) Ernest Hemingway
B) Gertrude Stein
C) F. Scott Fitzgerald
D) Edmund Wilson
- 21. Millay's work was particularly celebrated for its mastery of:
A) Traditional forms with modern themes
B) Epic narrative poetry
C) Collaborative creation
D) Experimental typography
- 22. The line 'I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground' is from which elegy?
A) Dirge Without Music
B) Lament
C) Elegy Before Death
D) Memorial to D.C.
- 23. Which literary figure was a key patron who helped Millay attend Vassar College?
A) Ezra Pound
B) Edith Wharton
C) Robert Frost
D) Caroline B. Dow
- 24. What is the name of the farm in New York where Millay lived for many years and wrote much of her work?
A) Green Gables
B) The Mount
C) Steepletop
D) Walden
- 25. In which year was Millay's celebrated collection 'A Few Figs from Thistles' first published?
A) 1922
B) 1917
C) 1920
D) 1925
- 26. The poem 'Recuerdo' is about a memory of a joyful night spent traveling on a:
A) Bus
B) Ferry
C) Train
D) Streetcar
- 27. What is the title of Millay's 1920 poetry collection known for its rebellious tone?
A) Wine from These Grapes
B) Fatal Interview
C) The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver
D) A Few Figs from Thistles
- 28. What is the title of Millay's 1921 poetry collection?
A) Third May
B) Second April
C) Final December
D) First August
- 29. What is the meter commonly used in Millay's sonnets?
A) Trochaic tetrameter
B) Dactylic hexameter
C) Anapestic trimeter
D) Iambic pentameter
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