A. E. Housman: Poems

"Ozymandias", "Ode to the West Wind," and "To a Skylark" help?

1. What is the main idea of “Ozymandias”?

A. Power and fame are short-lived.

B. The desert is vast and lonely.

C. Ozymandias was a great king.

D. Travelers see and know many things.

2. Which word best describes King Ozymandias?

A. generous

B. foolish

C. proud

D. old

3. Which line from “Ozymandias” best states the poem’s theme?

A. “I met a traveler from an antique land”

B. “Its sculptor well those passions read / Which yet survive . . .”

C. “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/ Stand in the desert.”

D. “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

4. What senses are appealed to in this image from “Ode to the West Wind”?

Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow

Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill . . .

With loving hues and odors plain and hill:

A. taste, touch, sound

B. sight, sound, smell

C. sight, sound, touch

D. sight, taste, touch

5. Which image from “Ode to the West Wind” best expresses the speaker’s hopes?

A. “And saw in sleep old palaces and towers . . .”

B. “know / Thy voice, and suddenly grow gray with fear . . .”

C. “I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!”

D. “Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is. . . .”

6. Which statement is the best translation of this image from “Ode to the West

Wind”?

Drive my dead thought over the universe

Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!

A. If my poems are scattered everywhere, they will inspire new ideas.

B. Words that express dead ideas serve no lasting purpose.

C. My poems have been read in many places around the world.

D. I do not care if people read my poems; creating them is all that matters.

7. How is the image of the wind in “Ode to the West Wind” like the image of the

skylark in “To a Skylark”?

A. Both are cold and threatening.

B. Both are always moving.

C. Both are cheerful.

D. Both suggest endings.

8. In “To a Skylark,” what does the speaker say is the skylark’s greatest quality?

A. the purity of its joy

B. the intensity of its feelings

C. the speed of its flight

D. the loudness of its song

9. How is human joy different from the skylark’s joy in “To a Skylark”?

A. A skylark’s joy is based on unlimited freedom.

B. A skylark has joy only when flying.

C. Human joy is always touched by sorrow.

D. Human joy is not heard by others.

10. Which vocabulary word correctly completes this sentence?

The of the statue showed the facial expression of someone who was

accustomed to being obeyed.

A. impulse

B. sepulcher

C. verge

D. visage

11. Which word best describes the song of the skylark in “To a Skylark”?

A. blithe

B. vernal

C. satiety

D. impulsive

12. Which phrase uses the subjunctive mood?

A. “The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low . . .”

B. “Will be the dome of a vast sepulcher. . . .”

C. “If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee . . .”

D. “Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!”

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1) A

2) C

3) D

4) B

9) C

10) D

11) A

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