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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what year did Rilke write the "Woman's Lament" poems?
(a) 1865.
(b) 1935.
(c) 1925.
(d) 1911.

2. In the last of the untitled love poems, the poet writes, "Do you feel, distant dear miss, / since you are _______ me."
(a) Reading.
(b) Loving.
(c) Kissing.
(d) Caressing.

3. In introducing Rilke's love poetry, the commentator notes that the poet's sexual and sensual undertones are mostly overlooked because of the striking impact of what?
(a) His flowery language.
(b) His uncommon rhythms.
(c) His spirituality.
(d) His surreal approach.

4. The commentator remarks in the Introduction, "It should be emphasized that Rilke's language is thoroughly _______."
(a) Dramatic.
(b) Explicit.
(c) Narrow.
(d) Sensual.

5. Over what does the poet write, "we will together contend" in "Greek Love-Talk"?
(a) The forest.
(b) This war.
(c) Your breasts.
(d) Our love.

6. Rilke writes in one letter, "At bottom ______ can help anyone else in life."
(a) No one.
(b) Everyone.
(c) Women.
(d) Men.

7. What does Rilke write is a simplification of one's way of life?
(a) Sex.
(b) Love.
(c) Forgiveness.
(d) Marriage.

8. Rilke writes in "The Seven Phallic Poems," "We close ______ by means of our gazes."
(a) Our blankets.
(b) A circle.
(c) The night.
(d) Our lips.

9. What does Rilke accuse of vilifying sensuality and love?
(a) Christianity.
(b) Mankind.
(c) Womankind.
(d) The government.

10. In which poem does Rilke begin, "She who sleeps... To be so very awake, / near pure waking, that we into sleepers grow"?
(a) "Music."
(b) "Magic."
(c) "The Lovers."
(d) "Greek Love-Talk."

11. The commentator regards that Rilke's "justly famed deep spirituality" is rooted essentially in what?
(a) Nature.
(b) God.
(c) Heaven.
(d) Sex.

12. One poem, using nature imagery, reads, "Cheerful gift from the chillier / mountains / attempts to leap into ____."
(a) Spring.
(b) June.
(c) August.
(d) Summer.

13. In the introduction to "Rilke's Poems on Love," the commentator states that Rilke's imagery is all what?
(a) Surreal.
(b) Heavenly.
(c) Earthly.
(d) Unnatural.

14. What is the title of the poem which begins, "From indescribable transformation flash / such creations--: Feel! and trust!"?
(a) "Gong."
(b) "Magic."
(c) "Music."
(d) "Greek Love-Talk."

15. According to Rilke, there is "scarcely anything more difficult" than what?
(a) To leave one's love.
(b) To love one another.
(c) To birth a child.
(d) To stand alone.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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."

2. The commentator notes that all of the poems in "Rilke's Poems on Love" were written when he was how old?

3. What is the title of the poem which begins, "Center, how you draw yourself out"?

4. In what year did Rilke write "The Seven Phallic Poems"?

5. In "Gravity," Rilke writes, "Yet from the _____ falls, / as from a stored up cloud, / abundant rain of force."

(see the answer keys)

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