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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Which word is enjambed at the end of line 1 and the beginning of line 2?
(a) Morning.
(b) Minion.
(c) Daylight.
(d) Kingdom.

3. What is a "chevalier" (line 11)?
(a) A falconer.
(b) A bird.
(c) A horse.
(d) A knight.

4. What is the bird the "dauphin" of (line 2)?
(a) Daylight.
(b) The dawn.
(c) Flight.
(d) The air.

5. What does the word "wimpling" literally mean in the context of line 4?
(a) Muffling.
(b) Rippling.
(c) Like a nun's habit.
(d) Covering.

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

7. What technique is employed in the poem's final two lines, "blue-bleak embers, ah my dear/ Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion"?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Euphemism.
(c) Imagery.
(d) Oxymoron.

8. What techniques are evident in the phrase "Rebuffed the big wind" (line 7)?
(a) Consonance and assonance.
(b) Assonance and euphony.
(c) Euphony and personification.
(d) Personification and consonance.

9. What would it mean to have "Rebuffed the big wind" (line 7)?
(a) To have abruptly and rudely responded to it.
(b) To have used rapid movements to shine or polish it.
(c) To have stood up to and turned away its advance.
(d) To have brushed against its force and been knocked back.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of rhyme is seen in the poem's "A" lines?

2. Who is the author of "The Windhover"?

3. In lines 5 and 6, what is the bird's motion compared to?

4. What technique is employed in the line 9 phrase "oh, air, pride, plume, here"?

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

(see the answer keys)

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