September 1913 Quizzes

September 1913 Quiz

1 Who is the "O'Leary" mentioned in the poem?

The eighteenth-century general William O'Leary

The Irish separatist John O'Leary

The mythical Irish warrior O'Leary

The painter Joseph O'Leary
2 How does the speaker conceive of the relationship between Irish people today and past Irish heroes?

Ireland today carries the legacy of past heroes, even those whose names are lost to history

Ireland's modern middle class has betrayed the heroes of the past

Modern Ireland would distress its historical heroes, but this is a positive thing

Modern Ireland has no heroes, because their ancestors all left the country
3 Yeats was personally acquainted with which of the people mentioned in this poem?

Emmet

Tone

O'Leary

Fitzgerald
4 Which of the following describes the poem's tone?

Businesslike

Jocular

Dreamy

Bitter
5 What is this poem's rhyme scheme?

ABBCDCD

AABBCCDD

ABCDEF

ABBACDDC
6 What type of stanzas make up this poem?

Quatrains

Octaves

Sestets

Quintains
7 What does the word "weigh" mean in the context of this poem?

Offer input

Carry

Consider

Measure
8 What is closest to a definition of the word "delirium" as used in the poem?

ecstasy

unconsciousness

illness

stupidity
9 Who were the "wild geese"?

Orphaned children growing up in Dublin

The working classes of Ireland's rural counties

Irish soldiers fighting in foreign armies

Yeats's generation of Irish artists and writers
10 How does Yeats evoke the disjunction between past and present Irish people?

By imagining how a single city has changed over the centuries

By imagining them having a conversation

By picturing various figures of Irish history touring modern Dublin

By describing their respective homes and clothes
11 Which sound produces assonance in the phrase "Was it for this"?

There is no assonance in this phrase

The short I sound

The O sound

The S sound
12 What claim is made in the poem's refrain?

That there is no need for Ireland to be independent

That Romantic Ireland is dead

That poets, not soldiers, will save Ireland

That O'Leary is dead but his legacy lives on
13 When did Robert Emmet die?

In 1939, shortly before Yeats's own death

In 1913, during a dispute over the Dublin lock-out

In 1803, when he was executed for planning a rebellion

In 1798, during a shootout with British forces
14 The phrase "maddened every mother’s son" contains which of the following?

Alliteration

Personification

End rhyme

Synecdoche
15 Which 1913 event does the poem's title refer to?

The Spanish Flu epidemic

Bloody Sunday

The Easter Rising

The Dublin Lock-Out
16 Which of the following lines contains the clearest instance of verbal irony?

"men were born to pray and save"

"Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone"

"little time had they to pray"

"They weighed so lightly what they gave"
17 In which of the poem's stanzas is the refrain somewhat altered?

The first

The fourth

The sixth

The third
18 Who is the implied addressee of the poem?

O'Leary

Irish soldiers

Ireland's middle-class population in the twentieth century

The speaker's child
19 The phrase "some woman's yellow hair" is an instance of what?

Situational irony

Synecdoche

Alliteration

Simile
20 What do Ireland's middle classes focus on, according to the speaker?

Education and travel

Luxurious material goods

Food and wine

Prayer and money
21 Who is the poem's protagonist?

The speaker

Fighters on behalf of Irish nationalism and independence

Robert Emmet

Ireland's children
22 The phrase "They have gone about the world like wind" is an instance of what device?

Verbal Irony

Assonance

Metaphor

Simile
23 What is this poem's meter?

Iambic tetrameter

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic hexameter

Anapestic trimeter
24 Who was Edward Fitzgerald?

A leader of the group known as the United Irishmen

A fictional character from a James Joyce novel

An Irish spy in the nineteenth century

A friend of the poet's who died shortly before this work was written
25 The claim that "Romantic Ireland's dead" is an instance of what?

Synecdoche

Metonymy

Metaphor

Simile

September 1913 Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for September 1913 is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for September 1913

September 1913 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 September 1913…