The Widow’s Lament in Springtime Quizzes

The Widow's Lament in Springtime Quiz

1 When was the poem published?
1912

1921

1931

1964
2 How long is the poem?
15 lines

25 lines

32 lines

29 lines
3 What is the main theme of the poem?
Natural beauty

Coping

Loss

Rebirth
4 Where is the poem set?
In a forest

In the speaker's backyard

In a meadow

In a field of flowers
5 Who is the speaker?
A man who has lost his father

A plum tree

A dying man

A recently widowed woman
6 Why does springtime make the speaker feel sadness?
Because she gets terrible allergies

Because she prefers autumn

Because she didn't have time to plant her garden

Because it reminds her of her husband
7 What is the tone of the poem?
Dull and monotone

Upbeat and cheery

Cynical and sarcastic

Mournful and elegiac
8 Which of the following is NOT an image in the poem?
An apple orchard

White flowers

Grass

Plum tree
9 What is the poem's form?
Free verse

Rhyme royal

Sonnet

Haiku
10 Which of the following lines contains alliteration?
"flames as it has flamed"

"at the edge of the heavy woods"

"The plumtree is white today"

"I lived with my husband."
11 Which movement was Williams associated with?
Impressionism

Imagism

Romanticism

Surrealism
12 What is the poem's genre?
Ekphrastic poetry

War epic

Nature poetry

Love sonnet
13 When does the climax occur?
When the speaker sees the blossoming tree in her yard

When the speaker talks to to her son

When the speaker remembers her husband

When the speaker imagines collapsing into white flowers
14 In "The morns are meeker than they were," what season did Emily Dickinson recontextualize?
Autumn

Summer

Winter

Spring
15 Which of the following lines contains foreshadowing?
"load the cherry branches"

"The plumtree is white today"

"Sorrow is my own yard"

"and fall into those flowers"
16 Which season is William Shakespeare reframing in Sonnet 98?
Summer

Autumn

Spring

Winter
17 Which technique does Williams use throughout the poem?
Extended metaphor

Unconventional capitalization

Enjambment

Anaphora
18 Which theatrical construct is the poem trying to imitate?
Stichomythia

Monologue

Soliloquy

Chorus
19 What do the white flowers at the end of the poem symbolize?
The grace of nature

The speaker's grief

The speaker's acceptance of circumstance

The memories of the speaker's happy marriage
20 Why does Williams choose to set a poem about death in springtime?
To parallel spring with winter

To show how spring is falsely framed in Victorian poetry

To show spring's hidden sadness

To show how loss changes the meaning of images and events
21 What was Williams's style typically characterized as?
Indulgent

Dense

Direct

Flowery
22 How long was the speaker married?
Thirty-five years

Five years

Twenty-five years

Fifteen years
23 Who told the speaker about the white flowers in the meadow?
The speaker's neighbor

The speaker's mother

The speaker's son

The speaker's husband
24 What does the speaker imagine doing at the end of the poem?
Chopping down her plum tree

Mowing the lawn

Falling into a soft bed of white flowers

Going to a meadow with her husband
25 What does the word "marsh" mean?
A muddy wetland

The shore of a beach

A swamp with alligators

A preserve for birdwatching

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Study Guide for The Widow’s Lament in Springtime

The Widow's Lament in Springtime study guide contains a biography of William Carlos Williams, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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