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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. Line 67, “that earthly goods will endure forever,” offers an example of which of the following?
(a) End-stop.
(b) Endemic.
(c) Enjambment.
(d) Entrepreneurship.

2. To which of the following does "the greybeard" refer (l. 92)?
(a) An old man.
(b) An old goat.
(c) An old woman.
(d) Hanging moss.

3. What does the narrator note a man will have from his seafaring (l. 42)?
(a) Surprise.
(b) Sleep.
(c) Sorrow.
(d) Solace.

4. In l. 92, “the graybeard grieves; he knows his old friends,” how many relatively stressed / emphasized syllables are present?
(a) 4.
(b) 2.
(c) 5.
(d) 3.

5. In the line “my spirit moves with the sea-flood” (l. 59), how many relatively stressed / emphasized syllables are present?
(a) 3.
(b) 4.
(c) 2.
(d) 5.

Short Answer Questions

1. In l. 102, “the gold he had hidden while he lived here on earth,” how many times is the DOMINANT alliteration iterated?

2. In the phrase “he always has longing who hastens to sea” (l. 47), how many relatively stressed / emphasized syllables are present?

3. Where do they walk whom the narrator says endure things unknown by those blessed with ease (ll. 55-57)?

4. In line 55, “bitter in the breast-hoard. He does not know,” which of the following is present?

5. Which of the following does he have "who hastens to sea" (l. 47)?

Short Essay Questions

1. The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). Line 40 stands out from the surrounding lines in using the conjunction “or” instead of “nor,” implying a different relationship between “so gifted in grace” and “so keen in youth” than between “bold in deeds” and “beloved of his lord” (l. 41). What is the implied relationship, and how is it implied?

2. The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). What rhetorical appeal/s does the narrator make in the assertion?The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). What rhetorical appeal/s does the narrator make in the assertion?

3. What tone is present in the following passage, and how is it conveyed? “The days are lost, / and all the pomp of this earthly kingdom; / there are now neither kings nor emperors / nor gold-givers as there once were, / when they did the greatest glorious deeds / and lived in most lordly fame” (ll. 80-85)?

4. The narrator comments that “He has no thought of the harp or the taking of rings, / nor the pleasures of woman or joy in the world, / nor anything else but the tumbling waves— / he always has longing who hastens to sea” (ll. 44-47). What rhetorical appeal/s does the narrator make in the comment?

5. What is the strongest pattern of alliteration in line line 42, "that he never has sorrow over his seafaring," and why?

6. In ll. 55-57, the narrator returns to something of a motif in the poem, stating that “He does not know, / the man blessed with ease, what those endure / who walk most widely in the paths of exile.” What tone is conveyed by the motif? What purpose does it serve as it follows the previous few sentences that speak to longing for the sea?

7. Consider the narrator’s comments that “When life fails [a man], his fleshly cloak will neither / taste the sweet nor touch the sore, / nor move a hand nor think with his mind” (ll. 94-96). What is the “fleshly cloak,” and what wears it? How do you know?

8. The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). What tone is conveyed in the assertion, and how?

9. Consider ll. 58-102 as a unit. What is the overall tone of the passage, and how is it conveyed?

10. Consider the comment that “the lone flier cries out, / incites my heart irresistibly to the whale’s path / over the open sea” (ll. 62-64). What is the lone flier? How do you know?

(see the answer keys)

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