Adam’s Curse Quizzes

Adam's Curse Quiz

1 Which of the following best describes the poem's tone?

Aggressive

Regretful

Gleeful

Aloof
2 What does "thereupon" mean?

On top of

Supposedly

Right after

Therefore
3 What is the poem's central allusion?

The Book of Genesis

The parables of Jesus

Irish folklore

Paradise Lost
4 How is the addressee's friend characterized?

As fiery and opinionated

As sluggish and weary

As clever and critical

As beautiful and kind
5 What does the word "precedents" mean?

People in charge of institutions

Underlying principles

Comforting narratives

Prior examples
6 What is the poem's stanzaic arrangement?

It consists of twenty couplets

It consists of two fourteen-line sonnets in a row

It consists of a longer, 27-line stanza, a sestet, and a quatrain

It consists of a single forty-line stanza
7 The poem's addressee is probably based on whom?

W.B. Yeats

Georgiana Hyde-Lees

Maud Gonne

Augusta Gregory
8 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

AABBCCDD

ABABCDCD

ABBACDDCEFFE

It does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme
9 Which of the following appears to be true of the speaker?

The speaker is a mother

The speaker is a soldier

The speaker is a banker

The speaker is a poet
10 What is the poem's meter?

Dactylic trimeter

Trochaic pentameter

Iambic pentameter

Iambic hexameter
11 Which of the following does the speaker want?

To become a banker or schoolteacher

To love the addressee in a lofty, effortful way

To return to prelapsarian paradise

To be recognized as a hardworking poet and lover
12 In which poetry collection did this first appear?

The Wanderings of Oisin

The Winding Stair

The Tower

In the Seven Woods
13 What does the word "pauper" mean?

A poet

A very old person

A poor person

A person who works in a kitchen
14 What does the word "idler" mean?

A sick person

An artist

A lazy person

A member of the clergy
15 When was this poem published?

1900

1914

1903

1921
16 When does the work take place?

Christmas afternoon

A summer evening

Early spring

The middle of the night
17 What does the word "high," as used in this poem, mean?

Elevated

Wealthy

Intoxicated

Physically far from the ground
18 Which of the following, according to the poem, is not taught in schools?

The art of writing poetry

The art of understanding nature

The art of following norms of feminine beauty

The art of reading the Bible
19 The line "I had a thought for no one’s but your ears" contains which device?

Personification

Understatement

Metonymy

Synecdoche
20 What does Yeats compare the fading daylight to?

Drops of water from a fountain

Coins in a pocket

A dream that has been forgotten

The embers of a fire
21 Which character does not speak out loud in this poem?

The speaker

The addressee

The friend

All of the above—the characters sit in silent reflection
22 The speaker compares poetry to which of the following?

Sewing

Childbearing

Hunting

Farming
23 Which of the following is true of the poem?

It switches speakers several times

It is written in the second person

It is a sonnet

It expresses skepticism about biblical stories
24 Which of the following is not described as a casualty or victim of Adam's curse?

Childhood

Poetry

Physical beauty

Love
25 What does the moon symbolize?

The eternal beauty of nature

The omnipresence of the divine

The light and redemption found in dark times

The speaker's cynicism about love

Adam’s Curse Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Adam’s Curse is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for Adam’s Curse

Adam's Curse study guide contains a biography of William Butler Yeats, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for Adam’s Curse…