View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Orpheus is called in one of the sonnets, who gathers to listen in silence?
(a) Children.
(b) Every European person.
(c) Animals.
(d) Every human in the world.

2. What does Rilke refer to as "pampered favorites"?
(a) Women who can work from home.
(b) Children who attend private school.
(c) Scenes of the natural world.
(d) Genuine emotions.

3. In the second stanza of the first elegy in Book 1, Chapter 7, "A ____ rolled toward you."
(a) God.
(b) Wheel.
(c) Wave.
(d) Springtime.

4. What does Rilke disregard in writing his elegies?
(a) Restraint.
(b) Poetic license.
(c) Regard for syntax and sentence structure.
(d) Expertise.

5. In poems I-8 and I-25, which themes are united?
(a) Fright and content.
(b) Happiness and sadness.
(c) Anger and hunger.
(d) Praise and grief.

6. According to Rilke, what does Orpheus invigorate?
(a) Feeling.
(b) Singing.
(c) Thinking.
(d) Writing.

7. Which of the following is the title of a poem in "Uncollected Poems"?
(a) "We ignore the gods and fill our minds with trash."
(b) "For gods do not entice."
(c) "Straining so hard against the strength of night."
(d) "Nothing is so mute."

8. How many poems are in Book 1, Chapter 6?
(a) 4.
(b) 8.
(c) 16.
(d) 12.

9. In the poem about faces, what do vast numbers of things appear to be?
(a) Shallow.
(b) Infinite.
(c) Light.
(d) Heavy.

10. What is sonnet II-4 about?
(a) Education.
(b) Function of the mind.
(c) Imagination.
(d) Music.

11. What is the name of the poem following "Ibsen"?
(a) "The Fear of a Saint."
(b) "The Temptations of a Saint."
(c) "The Sacraments of a Saint."
(d) "The Fate of a Saint."

12. In what years were the "Uncollected Poems" written?
(a) 1910-1916.
(b) 1913-1918.
(c) 1926-1928.
(d) 1990-1995.

13. In Rilke's poem, what type of activity is feeding birds?
(a) Pointless.
(b) Forgiving.
(c) Good.
(d) Mean-spirited.

14. How is "To Music" written?
(a) In brief phrases.
(b) In one-word lines.
(c) In short paragraphs.
(d) In long paragraphs.

15. In the case of those poems with no titles, what is used as a reference?
(a) The first line.
(b) The subject.
(c) The last line.
(d) The narrator's name.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is markedly distinct about "To Music"?

2. Who is Rilke describing with the following line: "Praising is what matters! He was summoned for that"?

3. Which of the following does Rilke use in his elegies to move readers?

4. In the first elegy, what happens to the images as the poem continues?

5. In "The Bird Feeders," the poet emphasizes the value of __________.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 422 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample