First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

1 What is the poet's full name?

Edna Vincent Millay

Vicenta Millay

Edna Millay

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

First Fig

Second Fig

Candlelight

Light
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"

will not last the night

gives me such a fright

burns at both ends

belongs to my foes and my friends
4 How many lines are in the poem?

5

3

6

4
5 What is the name for a stanza with the amount of lines that this poem has?

couplet

quatrain

sextet

quintet
6 Why might have Millay chosen the particular length of this poem to be what it is?

She was too lazy to write more.

She wanted to show that couplets are the superior form.

The form demonstrates the content.

The poem is incomplete.
7 What do figs represent?

Sweetness, enjoyment of life, femininity

Rottenness, bitterness in life

Poison, shame, and disgust

Patience, caution
8 What does the candle represent?

Immortality

The speaker's life

Religion

The speaker's faith
9 What does the idiom of a candle burning at both ends mean?

Wit and elegance.

The intelligence to create more light.

A fast and intense lifestyle that leads to burnout or death.

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

Lends

Sends

Hens

Friends
11 What word rhymes with "night" in the poem?

Kite

Light

Might

Sight
12 What is the meter?

Iambic pentameter

Free verse

Blank verse

Common meter
13 What number of alternating syllables per line does this poem have?

The syllables per line do not alternate

Five and four

Eight and six

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

Personification

Metaphor

Rhyme

Alliteration
15 Which is not a theme in the poem?

Seizing the Night

People-pleasing

Light and Vitality

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

Gorgeous

Lovely

Radiant

Beautiful
17 What does the light represent?

Danger

The coming of day

The speaker's vitality and passion

Electricity
18 What is significant about the speaker having foes?

The speaker was antisocial.

It means that she lived a public, authentic, and controversial lifestyle.

It is not relevant.

The speaker hated everyone.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?

A dash

A period

A question

An exclamation
20 What is a spondee?

A foot consisting of two unstressed syllables.

A foot consisting of two long (or stressed) syllables.

A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
21 Which collection was this poem originally published in?

A Few Figs From Thistles

The Ballad of the Harp Weaver

Collected Poems

Second April
22 When was the collection published?

1923

1922

1920

1925
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?

1900

1892

1915

1880
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?

Vermont

Florida

New York

Maine
25 What is the tone of the poem?

Joyful, Airy, Shrewd

Pessimistic, Fearful, Angry

Bitter, Wrathful, Seeking

Assertive, Celebratory, Passionate

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…