2. 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.

3. Which techniques are evident in the phrase "dapple-dawn-drawn" (line 2)?
(a) Alliteration and internal rhyme.
(b) Metaphor and alliteration.
(c) Onomatopoeia and metaphor.
(d) Internal rhyme and onomatopoeia.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What is the bird the "dauphin" of (line 2)?

3. What does the word "wimpling" literally mean in the context of line 4?

4. What is "sillion" (line 12)?

5. What is a "chevalier" (line 11)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the relationship of the expression "in his riding/ Of the rolling level underneath him steady air" (lines 2-3) to the later reference to "the rein of a wimpling wing" (line 4)?

2. How do the images in the last three lines support the idea that there is "no wonder" in the kestrel's fight (line 9)?

3. Describe the relationship of the content in the poem's final six lines to the content in lines 1-8.

4. In "The Windhover," who is speaking, and what moves him to speak?

5. What Christian paradox is expressed when the speaker refers to the bird as both a "minion" and a "dauphin" (lines 1-2)?

6. What is the meaning of the simile contained in lines 6 and 7: " As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding/ Rebuffed the big wind"?

7. What are the literal and figurative meanings of the poem's references to a "dauphin" and a "chevalier"?

8. Describe the poetic form of "The Windhover."

9. What is a "windhover," and what characteristic of its flight is focused on in this poem?

10. What makes a creature like the windhover an appropriate symbol for Christ?

(see the answer keys)

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