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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Poems on Other Difficulties.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the seventh of "The Seven Phallic Poems," what does the poet write that his "semen climbs gladly like"?
(a) A child.
(b) A god.
(c) A tower.
(d) A tree.

2. What does Rilke write about in conjunction with love and sex in Part VI of "The Seven Phallic Poems"?
(a) Redemption.
(b) Worry.
(c) Guilt.
(d) Death.

3. The commentator concludes the introduction to Rilke's love poetry in saying, "Rilke's poetry is somewhat precious and even _______."
(a) Ephemeral.
(b) Romantic.
(c) Effiminate.
(d) Masculine.

4. What book of Simone de Beauvoir's does the commentator say led him to "militant feminism" in the Introduction to "Rilke's Letters on Love"?
(a) The Feminist Manifesto.
(b) Letters to a Young Poet.
(c) The Second Sex.
(d) The Woman's Life.

5. In the excerpt of Rilke's letter in the Introduction, what essay does he refer to reading?
(a) Cicero's Symposium.
(b) Homer's Odyssey.
(c) Plato's Symposium.
(d) Platos' Cave.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the last of the untitled love poems, the poet writes, "Do you feel, distant dear miss, / since you are _______ me."

2. In the poem, "From the Cycle: Nights," Rilke writes, "Night. Oh you in depths ______."

3. In Part III of "The Seven Phallic Poems," Rilke writes, "Granted by you, the image of the ____ stands/at the gentle crossroads under my clothes."

4. Over what does the poet write, "we will together contend" in "Greek Love-Talk"?

5. What does Rilke comment in the excerpt from the Introduction that Eros "cannot be"?

(see the answer key)

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