Adam’s Curse Quizzes

Adam's Curse Quiz

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

Regretful

Aggressive

Gleeful

Aloof
2 What does "thereupon" mean?

Therefore

Supposedly

Right after

On top of
3 What is the poem's central allusion?

Irish folklore

Paradise Lost

The parables of Jesus

The Book of Genesis
4 How is the addressee's friend characterized?

As fiery and opinionated

As clever and critical

As beautiful and kind

As sluggish and weary
5 What does the word "precedents" mean?

Underlying principles

Prior examples

Comforting narratives

People in charge of institutions
6 What is the poem's stanzaic arrangement?

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

It consists of twenty couplets

It consists of a single forty-line stanza

It consists of two fourteen-line sonnets in a row
7 The poem's addressee is probably based on whom?

Maud Gonne

Augusta Gregory

Georgiana Hyde-Lees

W.B. Yeats
8 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

It does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme

AABBCCDD

ABBACDDCEFFE

ABABCDCD
9 Which of the following appears to be true of the speaker?

The speaker is a poet

The speaker is a banker

The speaker is a mother

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

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic trimeter

Iambic hexameter

Trochaic pentameter
11 Which of the following does the speaker want?

To return to prelapsarian paradise

To love the addressee in a lofty, effortful way

To be recognized as a hardworking poet and lover

To become a banker or schoolteacher
12 In which poetry collection did this first appear?

The Wanderings of Oisin

The Tower

In the Seven Woods

The Winding Stair
13 What does the word "pauper" mean?

A very old person

A person who works in a kitchen

A poet

A poor person
14 What does the word "idler" mean?

A lazy person

A sick person

A member of the clergy

An artist
15 When was this poem published?

1914

1903

1921

1900
16 When does the work take place?

Christmas afternoon

A summer evening

The middle of the night

Early spring
17 What does the word "high," as used in this poem, mean?

Physically far from the ground

Elevated

Intoxicated

Wealthy
18 Which of the following, according to the poem, is not taught in schools?

The art of understanding nature

The art of writing poetry

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

Metonymy

Understatement

Synecdoche
20 What does Yeats compare the fading daylight to?

A dream that has been forgotten

The embers of a fire

Coins in a pocket

Drops of water from a fountain
21 Which character does not speak out loud in this poem?

The speaker

The friend

The addressee

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 expresses skepticism about biblical stories

It is written in the second person

It is a sonnet

It switches speakers several times
24 Which of the following is not described as a casualty or victim of Adam's curse?

Poetry

Childhood

Love

Physical beauty
25 What does the moon symbolize?

The omnipresence of the divine

The light and redemption found in dark times

The eternal beauty of nature

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…