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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is the author of "The Windhover"?
(a) Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
(b) Gerard Manley Hopkins.
(c) Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
(d) Christina Rossetti.

2. What is the common name of the titular bird?
(a) Kite.
(b) Kestrel.
(c) Hawk.
(d) Osprey.

3. In lines 10 and 11, the speaker says that the fire "that breaks from thee" is a billion times "lovelier" and more what?
(a) Rapturous.
(b) Hypnotic.
(c) Dangerous.
(d) Sanctified.

4. What type of rhyme is seen in the poem's "A" lines?
(a) Feminine.
(b) Masculine.
(c) Eye.
(d) Slant.

5. In lines 2-3, "in his riding/ Of the rolling level underneath him steady air," which word tells what the bird is "riding"?
(a) "Air."
(b) "Level."
(c) "Rolling."
(d) "Him."

6. What device is evident in line 10's "the fire that breaks from thee then"?
(a) Hyperbole.
(b) Verbal irony.
(c) Apostrophe.
(d) Personification.

7. What does line 10 say "Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume" do "here" (line 9)?
(a) Stir.
(b) Break.
(c) Soar.
(d) Buckle.

8. To whom is the poem dedicated?
(a) Christ.
(b) The poet's spouse.
(c) A Victorian minister.
(d) Matthew Arnold.

9. Between which lines does the poem use "light rhyme"?
(a) A and B.
(b) A and C.
(c) B and D.
(d) B and C.

10. What does "shéer plód" mean (line 12)?
(a) A heavy feeling of apathy.
(b) Slow, boring, repetitive work.
(c) Keen and attentive determination.
(d) Clumsy and random movement.

11. In lines 5 and 6, what is the bird's motion compared to?
(a) An ice skater.
(b) A ball being thrown.
(c) An arrow.
(d) A swing.

12. Where is the volta of "The Windhover"?
(a) Between lines 11 and 12.
(b) Between lines 4 and 5.
(c) Between lines 12 and 13.
(d) Between lines 8 and 9.

13. What is "sillion" (line 12)?
(a) An uncountable amount.
(b) A type of soil.
(c) The sparkling of a diamond.
(d) Sunshine.

14. What type of rhyme is seen in the poem's "B" lines"?
(a) Eye.
(b) Feminine.
(c) Masculine.
(d) Slant.

15. Who is being referred to in line 10's "thee"?
(a) The windhover.
(b) The speaker.
(c) The air.
(d) Christ.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which word is enjambed at the end of line 1 and the beginning of line 2?

2. Which techniques are evident in the phrase "dapple-dawn-drawn" (line 2)?

3. In line 5, what does the speaker claim the bird is feeling?

4. What would it mean to have "Rebuffed the big wind" (line 7)?

5. What technique is employed in the poem's final two lines, "blue-bleak embers, ah my dear/ Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion"?

(see the answer keys)

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