Grammar and Syntax: Poetry
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AP English Literature and Composition › Grammar and Syntax: Poetry
Adapted from "The Mouse’s Petition" in Poems by Anna Letitia Barbauld (1773)
Found in the trap where he had been confined all night by Dr. Priestley, for the sake of making experiments with different kinds of air
“To spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud.” - Virgil
OH! hear a pensive captive's prayer,
For liberty that sighs;
And never let thine heart be shut
Against the prisoner's cries.
For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate;
And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.
If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain.
Oh! do not stain with guiltless blood
Thy hospitable hearth;
Nor triumph that thy wiles betray'd
A prize so little worth.
The scatter'd gleanings of a feast
My scanty meals supply;
But if thine unrelenting heart
That slender boon deny,
The cheerful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given;
Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.
The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
If mind, as ancient sages taught,
A never dying flame,
Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms,
In every form the same,
Beware, lest in the worm you crush
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
Or, if this transient gleam of day
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast,
That little all to spare.
So may thy hospitable board
With health and peace be crown'd;
And every charm of heartfelt ease
Beneath thy roof be found.
So when unseen destruction lurks,
Which men like mice may share,
May some kind angel clear thy path,
And break the hidden snare.
In context, the use of the bolded and underlined word "trembled" serves what purpose?
To illustrate the unease and sadness the speaker feels in captivity with a physical manifestation of that mental state
To illustrate the physically uncomfortable circumstances of the speaker's captivity
To illustrate the speaker's fear of his captor's wrath
To illustrate the moral and religious confusion the speaker feels in a changing and dangerous world with a physical manifestation of that mental state
To illustrate the excitement the speaker feels at being released from his captivity with a physical manifestation of that mental state
Explanation
In this context, the word "trembled" was chosen to illustrate the unease and sadness that captivity has engendered in the speaker with a physical manifestation of that mental state. The earlier reference to the speaker's sitting "forlorn and sad" in captivity ties directly with the statement that he "tremble\[s\] at th' approaching morn."
There is no indication given that the speaker is physically afraid of his captor (indeed, his petition is quite candid to this captor). The poem consists of the speaker petitioning for his release, so it stands to reason that this release has not yet been agreed to. The speaker does not seem morally or theologically confused, but is rather presenting a fairly cohesive moral viewpoint. While the speaker's physical circumstances in captivity are said to be uncomfortable, in this case the "trembl\[ing\] is attributed to mental states, rather than physical coldness or discomfort.
1 Yes, long as children feel affright
2 In darkness, men shall fear a God;
3 And long as daisies yield delight
4 Shall see His footprints in the sod.
5 Is't ignorance? This ignorant state
6 Science doth but elucidate --
7 Deepen, enlarge. But though 'twere made
8 Demonstrable that God is not --
9 What then? It would not change this lot:
10 The ghost would haunt, nor could be laid.
11 Yea, ape and angel, strife and old debate --
12 The harps of heaven and the dreary gongs of hell;
13 Science the feud can only aggravate --
14 No umpire she betwixt the chimes and knell:
15 The running battle of the star and clod
16 Shall run for ever -- if there be no God.
(1876)
What is the subject of the verb "enlarge" (line 7)?
"Science" (line 6)
"This ignorant state" (line 5)
The addressee, because the verb is an imperative.
the speaker (implied)
God
Explanation
The subject of a verb is the thing which performs the action of that verb. For instance, in the sentence, "The dog barks," the "dog" is the subject of the verb "barks" because the dog is the thing which does the barking.
In lines 5-7, the poem reads: "This ignorant state / Science doth but elucidate-- / Deepen, enlarge..." In other words, science elucidates, deepens, and enlarges "this ignorant state." Science is the thing performing the action of all three of those verbs, "enlarge" included, and therefore "science" (line 6) is the subject of the verb "enlarge."
Passage excerpted from the epic poem Clarel by Herman Melville (1876).
Passage adapted from Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Spring" (1921).
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know. 5
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify? 10
Not only under the ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. 15
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
The final three lines are primarily developed through __________.
personification
anecdote
idiom
simile
consonance
Explanation
These lines are developed primarily through personification because the month of April (a time of the year, something not human) is being described with human attributes, such as the ability to run and throw flowers.
An "anecdote" is a short, amusing story told for the purpose of demonstrating a point or for entertainment. An "idiom" is an expression that is not interpreted literally but has a commonly accepted meaning that is different from what the individual words in the phrase would imply. A "simile" is a figure of speech that makes a compares two different things using the words "like" or "as." "Consonance" is _the use of the same consonant sound throughout a sentence or phras_e.
Adapted from Life and Remains of John Clare "The Northamptonshire Peasant Poet" by John Clare (1872, ed. J. L. Cherry)
I am! Yet what I am who cares, or knows?
My friends forsake me, like a memory lost.
I am the self-consumer of my woes,
They rise and vanish, an oblivious host,
Shadows of life, whose very soul is lost.
And yet I am—I live—though I am toss'd
Into the nothingness of scorn and noise.
Into the living sea of waking dream,
Where there is neither sense of life, nor joys,
But the huge shipwreck of my own esteem
And all that's dear. Even those I loved the best
Are strange—nay, they are stranger than the rest.
I long for scenes where man has never trod—
For scenes where woman never smiled or wept—
There to abide with my Creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
Full of high thoughts, unborn. So let me lie,
The grass below; above, the vaulted sky.
What is the effect of the enjambment of the underlined text?
All of these answers are correct
It can be interpreted as portraying the action of being tossed
It emphasizes the nothingness
It causes confusion for the reader
It allows the author to keep the stanzas at six lines whilst keeping the same subject as the first paragraph
Explanation
We can say that the sentence that spans from the end of the first stanza to the start of the second stanza allows the author to keep the same idea while adhering to the form of six-line stanzas. We can also say that it emphasizes both the nothingness of the first line of the stanza and the action of being “tossed into the nothingness.” We can also say it causes confusion for the reader, as it is attempting to draw the reader into the confusion portrayed in the first two stanzas; therefore, we can say all of these answers are correct.
Passage adapted from Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Spring" (1921).
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know. 5
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify? 10
Not only under the ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. 15
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
The word "You" in line 3 refers to __________.
the month of April
a person named April
beauty
the impersonal you
death
Explanation
The "you" in line 3 refers to the month of April. The first line of the poem establishes April as the "you" that will be spoken to throughout the poem. The key clue for this question is the direct reference to "April" in line 1.
One can infer that the April that is being addressed is the month of April and not a person because of the title of the poem, "Spring," and the description of April returning each year.
1 Yes, long as children feel affright
2 In darkness, men shall fear a God;
3 And long as daisies yield delight
4 Shall see His footprints in the sod.
5 Is't ignorance? This ignorant state
6 Science doth but elucidate --
7 Deepen, enlarge. But though 'twere made
8 Demonstrable that God is not --
9 What then? It would not change this lot:
10 The ghost would haunt, nor could be laid.
11 Yea, ape and angel, strife and old debate --
12 The harps of heaven and the dreary gongs of hell;
13 Science the feud can only aggravate --
14 No umpire she betwixt the chimes and knell:
15 The running battle of the star and clod
16 Shall run for ever -- if there be no God.
(1876)
What is the direct object of the verb "aggravate" (line 13)?
"the feud" (line 13)
"science" (line 13)
"only" (line 13)
"ape and angel" (line 11)
"umpire" (line 14)
Explanation
The direct object of a verb is the thing that receives the action of that verb. For instance, in the sentence, "The cat eats the food," the "food" is the direct object of the verb "eats" because it is the thing being eaten.
That said, in line 13, "Science the feud can only aggravate," the "feud" is the thing being aggravated. Therefore, "the feud" is the direct object of the verb "aggravate" in this line.
Passage excerpted from the epic poem Clarel by Herman Melville (1876).
Adapted from "The Mouse’s Petition" in Poems by Anna Letitia Barbauld (1773)
Found in the trap where he had been confined all night by Dr. Priestley, for the sake of making experiments with different kinds of air
“To spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud.” - Virgil
OH! hear a pensive captive's prayer,
For liberty that sighs;
And never let thine heart be shut
Against the prisoner's cries.
For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate;
And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.
If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain.
Oh! do not stain with guiltless blood
Thy hospitable hearth;
Nor triumph that thy wiles betray'd
A prize so little worth.
The scatter'd gleanings of a feast
My scanty meals supply;
But if thine unrelenting heart
That slender boon deny,
The cheerful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given;
Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.
The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
If mind, as ancient sages taught,
A never dying flame,
Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms,
In every form the same,
Beware, lest in the worm you crush
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
Or, if this transient gleam of day
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast,
That little all to spare.
So may thy hospitable board
With health and peace be crown'd;
And every charm of heartfelt ease
Beneath thy roof be found.
So when unseen destruction lurks,
Which men like mice may share,
May some kind angel clear thy path,
And break the hidden snare.
The underlined excerpt is framed as a conditional for what rhetorical purpose?
The conditional is used to relate the addressee's personal sense of freedom and justice to the conditions he is imposing on the speaker.
The conditional is used to frame the excerpt as an ultimatum: if the speaker wishes to remain free, he must free the speaker.
The conditional is used to relate the addressee's personal sense of freedom and justice to the condition of human prisoners.
The conditional is used to suggest that the speaker has never valued freedom and has always behaved in an oppressive and tyrannical manner.
The conditional is used to contrast the addressee's physical comfort and security with the physical conditions of the speaker.
Explanation
The highlighted excerpt is framed as a conditional (accomplished through the use of "if" at the beginning of the stanza) in order to relate the addressee's personal sense of freedom ("thy breast with freedom glowed") and justice ("spurn'd a tyrant's chain") to the conditions he is imposing ("thy strong oppressive force") on the speaker by "detain\[ing\]" him.
The excerpt is concerned with the speaker's sense of justice, not his physical circumstances. The use of "if" actually hints that the addressee has, in fact, felt the glow of freedom in his breast and has "spurn'd a tyrant's chain." If the addressee had never been concerned with these issues, the entreaty would bear no rhetorical weight. Human prisoners are not mentioned. Throughout the poem, the speaker is "petitioning" for justice and ethical consideration, not imposing ultimatums on his addressee.
1 Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
5 What leaf-fring'd legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
9 What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
11 Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
15 Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
18 Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
21 Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
25 More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
28 All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
31 Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
35 What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
38 And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.
41 O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
45 As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
48 Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
(1819)
What is the antecedent of the pronoun "That" in line 29?
"All breathing human passion" (line 28)
"A burning forehead" (line 30)
"a parching tongue" (line 30)
the beauty of the artwork being described (implied)
"happy love" (line 25)
Explanation
The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun to which the pronoun refers. For example, in the sentence, "I found the book that I was looking for," the pronoun "that" refers back to the noun "book." Therefore "book" is the antecedent of the pronoun "that" in this sentence.
In Line 29 of the poem, "That" is referring back to "All breathing human passion" in the previous line.
Passage adapted from John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" (1819)
1. Better to see your cheek grown hollow,
2. Better to see your temple worn,
3. Than to forget to follow, follow,
4. After the sound of a silver horn.
5. Better to bind your brow with willow
6. And follow, follow until you die,
7. Than to sleep with your head on a golden pillow,
8. Nor lift it up when the hunt goes by.
9. Better to see your cheek grow sallow
10. And your hair grown gray, so soon, so soon,
11. Than to forget to hallo, hallo,
12. After the milk-white hounds of the moon.
The poem’s point of view is best characterized as _________________.
Second person only
First and second person combined
Second and third person combined
Third person omniscient only
Third person limited only
Explanation
The poem is written entirely in the second person (“Better to see YOUR cheek grown hollow…”.) There are no occurrences of first person (“I . . . “) or of third person (“he/she/it . . .”).
Passage adapted from Eleanor Wylie's "A Madman's Song" (1921)
1 I WILL arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, 2 And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: 3 Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee, 4 And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
5 And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, 6 Dropping from the veils of the mourning to where the cricket sings; 7 There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, 8 And evening full of the linnet's wings.
9 I will arise and go now, for always night and day 10 I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; 11 While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, 12 I hear it in the deep heart's core.
(1893)
What is the grammatical function of "dropping" (line 5)?
Adverbial modifier of "slow" (line 5)
Adjectival modifier of "peace" (line 5)
Adverbial modifier of "peace" (line 5)
Dangling participle
Adjectival modifier of "slow" (line 5)
Explanation
An adverbial modifier can be an adverb modifying (that is, describing) a verb, or it can also be an adverb modifying an adjective. Thus, "quickly" in "run quickly" and "very" in "very fast" are both adverbs. An adverb can even be a modifier for another adverb; such is the case with "very" in the phrase "very quickly."
An adjective (adjectival modifier), however, always modifies a noun.
In the case of "dropping" in line 5, it is clear from syntax and context that "dropping" must be modifying "slow." Because "slow" is itself an adjective, and adjectives are modified by adverbs (not more adjectives), the word modifying it must be an adverbial modifier.
Passage adapted from William Butler Yeats' "Lake Isle of Innisfree" (1893)