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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which poem from "Rilke's Poems of Other Difficulties" speaks of a king?
(a) "Magic."
(b) "Greek Love-Talk."
(c) "Gong."
(d) "Mausoleum."

2. In what year did Rilke write "The Seven Phallic Poems"?
(a) 1940.
(b) 1925.
(c) 1915.
(d) 1905.

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

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

5. What does Rilke write that he holds to be "the highest task of a bond between two people"?
(a) That they should each stand guard over the solitude of the other.
(b) That they should stand alone.
(c) That they should hold no limits to their connection.
(d) That they must live closely.

Short Answer Questions

1. Rilke writes of love that "So whoever loves must try to act as if he had a _________."

2. The commentator regards that Rilke's "justly famed deep spirituality" is rooted essentially in what?

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

4. In one untitled love poem, Rilke writes, "Drinking would seem too much, too ____, to me"?

5. What does the translator comment in the Prologue that his translations of Rilke are?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rilke say regarding the young and marriage in his letters?

2. What does Mood say in regard to Rilke's vision of Eros in the Prologue?

3. What influences does Mood speak of on Rilke's writing in his introduction to "Poems of Other Difficulties"?

4. How does Rilke suggest sexuality should be regarded in terms of innocence? What does he say of children?

5. What sexual elements are undertaken in The Seven Phallic Poems?

6. How does death intermingle with sex in The Seven Phallic Poems? How does childhood?

7. What does Mood say regarding Rilke's sensuality in the introduction to his poems?

8. How does Mood describe Rilke's masculinity and femininity in his poetry? What does he say of Rilke's own life in this regard?

9. What metaphors does Rilke use for a woman's womb in The Seven Phallic Poems?

10. Discuss the imagery and symbolism in the poems "From the Cycle: Nights" and "Force of Gravity."

(see the answer keys)

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