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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. 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 spirituality.
(b) His flowery language.
(c) His surreal approach.
(d) His uncommon rhythms.

2. Rilke remarks in his letters that his sex is "not directed only toward posterity" but is is what?
(a) "The joy of my life."
(b) "The secret of my own life."
(c) "The solution of days."
(d) "The answer within the wind."

3. One of the shortest of the love poems consists of the following two lines: "Also to affirm even ______ / like a thing."
(a) Rapture.
(b) Lust.
(c) Woman.
(d) Love.

4. What did the commentator originally call the selections of Rilke's letters which he copied and gave out?
(a) "Letters of Love."
(b) "The Love Letters."
(c) "Rilke on Love."
(d) "Notes on Love."

5. What sculptor had an influence on Rilke's writing?
(a) Da Vinci.
(b) Rogarde.
(c) Rodin.
(d) Picasso.

Short Answer Questions

1. The first collection of poems in "Rilke's Poems on Love" is titled what?

2. Rilke writes in his letters on love, "Once we were ______ in every part, now we are that in one part only."

3. One poem, using nature imagery, reads, "Cheerful gift from the chillier / mountains / attempts to leap into ____."

4. In Rilke's one-line poem of the love poems, he writes, "This is the mute-mouthed mounting of the ______."

5. Two-thirds of the poems in "Rilke's Poems on Other Difficulties" come from what year?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In the untitled poems of "Rilke's Poems of Other Difficulties," how does Rilke write of the gods?

3. What is Rilke's discussion regarding religion and the Christian church specifically in his letters?

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

5. What does Rilke say of questions and answers in his first essay?

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

7. What does Rilke write of in his first poem of "Poems of Other Difficulties"?

8. In the untitled poems following "The Lovers," what imagery does the poet use?

9. What does Rilke say regarding the institute of marriage and solitude?

10. Discuss the subjects and imagery of "The Poems Praise."

(see the answer keys)

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