Poetry

Read the extract below from D. H. Lawrence's prescribed poem 'Piano':

'Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.'

Which of the following best describes the speaker's emotional state in this extract?

Match each specialized poetic genre in Column A with its defining structural or thematic description in Column B.

In William Wordsworth's poem *My Heart Leaps Up*, the speaker reflects:

"The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety."

Which literary device is principally demonstrated in the expression "The Child is father of the Man"?

Consider the following four-line stanza:

The wind blows soft across the sea,
The ships sail silently away,
A quiet shadow falls on me,
At closing of another day.

What is the precise rhyme scheme of this stanza?

Match each prescribed Non-African poem on the left with its primary thematic focus on the right.

Complete the statement below regarding poetic structure by filling in the appropriate literary term.

Read the excerpt below from William Blake's prescribed non-African poem 'The School Boy':

"How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child, when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring?"

What figure of speech is primarily established through the implicit comparison between the restricted child and a caged bird in the excerpt above?

Read the poetic excerpt below and answer the question that follows:

"I am the voice of the voiceless,
I speak for those whose tongues are tied by fear,
I walk through the shadow of their silence."

What is the persona of the speaker in the lines above?

Complete the statement below regarding the central thematic motif in Dylan Thomas's prescribed non-African poem 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'.

Consider the following lines:

"Great dark clouds breakdown in a sudden crack,
Striking cold rocks along the black track."

Which of the following best describes the dominant sound device employed in these lines and its primary auditory effect?

Read the extract below from Percy Bysshe Shelley's prescribed non-African poem "Ozymandias":

"'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."

Which of the following central themes is underscored by the dramatic irony in these lines?

Match each poetic extract below with the dominant sound device and auditory effect it demonstrates.

Read the poetic excerpt below:

'The silent shadows stretch across the plain,
As evening folds the golden hills in peace;
The weary day at last has found release,
And washed away the bitter hours of pain.
The gentle stars resume their quiet reign,
While all the troubles of the spirit cease;
Now troubled hearts may find a soft surcease,
And shed the heavy burden of strain.

Yet in the quiet darkness of the mind,
A sudden flash of memory awakes;
The silent calm is broken by a sigh.
For phantom griefs no solace ever find,
And though the outer world no longer shakes,
The inner tempest will not pass us by.'

Which of the following best describes the structural form of the poem and the function of its volta?

Complete the structural analysis of the poetic forms described below by filling in the appropriate literary terms.

Complete the statement below by filling in the appropriate literary terms for the described poetic subgenres.

Match each specialized poetic genre in List A with its defining thematic focus or functional context in List B.

Examine the line of poetry provided below and identify the figurative language device that completes the analysis statement.

Match each poetic excerpt provided below with its dominant figure of speech.

Consider the following lines from William Shakespeare's *Romeo and Juliet*:

"O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!"

Which literary device is primarily employed in the pairing of contradictory words in these lines?

Consider the poetic lines below:

"Her voice was a soft velvet ribbon
Winding through the quiet room."

Which figure of speech is primarily used to describe the speaker's voice?