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

2. In line 5, what does the speaker claim the bird is feeling?
(a) Awe.
(b) Anticipation.
(c) Ecstasy.
(d) Pride.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Who is being referred to in line 10's "thee"?

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

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

5. What is the common name of the titular bird?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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"?

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

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

5. 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)?

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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