First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

1 What is the poet's full name?
Vicenta Millay

Edna Millay

Edna Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay
2 What is the title of the poem?
Second Fig

First Fig

Candlelight

Light
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"
belongs to my foes and my friends

will not last the night

gives me such a fright

burns at both ends
4 How many lines are in the poem?
5

4

6

3
5 What is the name for a stanza with the amount of lines that this poem has?
quintet

couplet

quatrain

sextet
6 Why might have Millay chosen the particular length of this poem to be what it is?
The poem is incomplete.

She was too lazy to write more.

She wanted to show that couplets are the superior form.

The form demonstrates the content.
7 What do figs represent?
Patience, caution

Sweetness, enjoyment of life, femininity

Rottenness, bitterness in life

Poison, shame, and disgust
8 What does the candle represent?
The speaker's life

Religion

Immortality

The speaker's faith
9 What does the idiom of a candle burning at both ends mean?
A fast and intense lifestyle that leads to burnout or death.

Wit and elegance.

The intelligence to create more light.

A person who hates studying.
10 What word rhymes with "ends" in the poem?
Lends

Hens

Friends

Sends
11 What word rhymes with "night" in the poem?
Might

Light

Kite

Sight
12 What is the meter?
Free verse

Blank verse

Iambic pentameter

Common meter
13 What number of alternating syllables per line does this poem have?
The syllables per line do not alternate

Eight and seven

Five and four

Eight and six
14 Which poetic device is not used in the poem?
Personification

Rhyme

Alliteration

Metaphor
15 Which is not a theme in the poem?
Seizing the Night

Light and Vitality

People-pleasing

Challenging Gender Norms
16 How does the speaker describe her light?
Radiant

Gorgeous

Lovely

Beautiful
17 What does the light represent?
The speaker's vitality and passion

The coming of day

Danger

Electricity
18 What is significant about the speaker having foes?
The speaker was antisocial.

The speaker hated everyone.

It is not relevant.

It means that she lived a public, authentic, and controversial lifestyle.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?
A dash

A question

An exclamation

A period
20 What is a spondee?
An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

A foot consisting of two unstressed syllables.

A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

A foot consisting of two long (or stressed) syllables.
21 Which collection was this poem originally published in?
Second April

A Few Figs From Thistles

Collected Poems

The Ballad of the Harp Weaver
22 When was the collection published?
1923

1922

1925

1920
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?
1915

1892

1900

1880
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?
New York

Maine

Florida

Vermont
25 What is the tone of the poem?
Joyful, Airy, Shrewd

Assertive, Celebratory, Passionate

Bitter, Wrathful, Seeking

Pessimistic, Fearful, Angry

First Fig Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for First Fig is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for First Fig

First Fig study guide contains a biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for First Fig…