2. 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.

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

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) Hypnotic.
(b) Rapturous.
(c) Sanctified.
(d) Dangerous.

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) "Level."
(b) "Air."
(c) "Rolling."
(d) "Him."

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. Where is the volta of "The Windhover"?

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

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

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

4. 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"?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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