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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many of the women singing of love yet lives in the poem, A Triad?

2. Where does the great lord first see cousin Kate in the poem of the same name?

3. On the last day of what season does the deceased of An End die?

4. To what is Maude Clare compared in the first stanza of Maude Clare?

5. What must ascend in order for shoots to be put forth in Spring?

Short Essay Questions

1. What appears to be the speaker's assumption about life after death in the final poem entitled Song?

2. Why would the speaker not plant summer flowers and wait, as described in the first stanza of Another Spring?

3. What is significant about the doves, lilies, and butterflies listed being in pairs in the second poem entitled Song?

4. For what reason does the poem's speaker feel the need to seek repentance in The Convent Threshold?

5. What is the "it" of May?

6. Why, of all the women in A Triad, do none achieve life?

7. What might be the reason for John's unwarranted affection towards the poem's speaker in No Thank You, John?

8. What is ironic and somewhat paradoxical about the new-life brought on by Spring in the poem of the same name?

9. What is to be inferred from the last clause of After Death, "and very sweet it is / To know he still is warm though I am cold"?

10. What is the meaning of the phrase, "Where thirsting longing eyes / Watch the slow door / That opening, letting in, lets out no more" in Echo?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of the poems in this collection are in the traditional Italian sonnet form. This includes A Triad, Remember, After Death, The One Certainty, and The World. Using either a few, or all, of these sonnets, compose an analytical essay which demonstrates how the Italian sonnet form conveys its significance through exposition in the octave and explication or resolution in the sestet. How do the two parts interact with one another? What does the commentary or resolution in the sestet achieve? What opportunities of conveying significance does the form of the sonnet allow? What is the significance of some of the sonnets in the collection?

Essay Topic 2

Many of the poems in the collection, from The Convent Threshold through The World, deal with explicitly religious themes. Analyze the overall portrayal of religion in these poems in a thoughtful and insightful essay. How is religion portrayed in each individual poem? How is religion portrayed overall? With what sort of imagery and beliefs is religious practice associated? What do the poems indicate about religious belief? How do the speakers interact with religion? What does religion provide the speakers? What does faith provide?

Essay Topic 3

Oftentimes the exact meaning of a poem can be difficult to discern by simply reading what is present on the page; the literal text demands that the reader make an inference based on what is written, without explicitly making it clear. This is perhaps most evident in The One Certainty, but can also be seen in Sweet Death, Dream Land and many others. Using examples from Rossetti's poetry, write an analytical essay on the process of valid inference of meaning from a poem in which the literal meaning obscures the deeper significance. What are some examples of this inference? How is this inference made? What validates such inference? What are the difficulties of making such an inference? How should such an inference be portrayed?

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