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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the gardener in "Matins" (#5) pretending to do in the beginning of the poem?
(a) Pray.
(b) Harvest her vegetables.
(c) Weed the garden.
(d) Water the plants.

2. What does the speaker in "Matins" (#6) feel happens to her over and over at the start of the poem?
(a) Her garden fails.
(b) Her heart breaks.
(c) She suffers the seasons.
(d) Her roses die.

3. What does John do in "Vespers" (#4) after 15 minutes of "intense effort" (42)?
(a) Spend 15 minutes napping.
(b) Spend 15 minutes in solemn contemplation.
(c) Spend 15 minutes in quiet meditation.
(d) Spend 15 minutes in ecstatic contemplation.

4. Who is the speaker in "Matins" (#5)?
(a) God.
(b) The gardener.
(c) A weed.
(d) The flower bed.

5. What does the speaker wonder if the person s/he is addressing looks for while looking beyond the field?
(a) Heaven.
(b) A sign the rain is coming.
(c) A sign from God.
(d) A better place to garden.

6. Who is "the lord in heaven" according to the poppy in "The Red Poppy"?
(a) God.
(b) The gardener.
(c) The rain.
(d) The sun.

7. What does the speaker in "Vespers" (#1) say she does more intensely than others?
(a) Eats tomatoes.
(b) Praises God.
(c) Despairs.
(d) Gardens.

8. What does the speaker in "Jacob's Ladder" think the woman's grief signifies at the end of the poem?
(a) Frustration with her garden.
(b) Pain of losing her partner.
(c) Her desire for immortality.
(d) Depression.

9. What happens to the flowers at the top of the bush while the one at the bottom blooms dark red in "Song"?
(a) They are picked.
(b) They thrive.
(c) They wilt.
(d) The wind blows away their petals.

10. In what way does the speaker in "Matins" (#6) feel her affliction is different than the sick rose?
(a) The sick rose stays among other roses while she remains apart from others.
(b) She knows how to heal the rose, but not herself.
(c) The sick rose is cared for by the gardener.
(d) The sick rose still has the sunlight.

11. What does the person in "Vespers" (#1) try to plant as a test of God's existence?
(a) A peach tree.
(b) An apricot tree.
(c) A tomato crop.
(d) A fig tree.

12. What time of year does the poet in "The Doorway" wish she could remain forever?
(a) Early Summer.
(b) Late Spring.
(c) Late Summer.
(d) Early Spring.

13. Who does the speaker in "Matins" (#6) address?
(a) God.
(b) The aphids.
(c) The sick rose.
(d) The gardener.

14. What flower does the poet in "The Doorway" describe as it just starts to open?
(a) Irises.
(b) Tulips.
(c) Crocuses.
(d) Roses.

15. Who does the speaker in "Field Flowers" address?
(a) The poet.
(b) A field of flowers.
(c) God.
(d) The tall grass.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does the speaker of "Jacob's Ladder" feel it is trapped?

2. What is described as "the heart's constant backdrop" (27) in "Song"?

3. What does the speaker in "Vespers" (#5) think might move God to reveal himself?

4. Who is the speaker in "Clover"?

5. What does the speaker in "Vespers" (#5) say she lives mostly in at the start of the poem?

(see the answer keys)

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