Shakespeare’s Sonnets Quizzes

Shakespeare's Sonnets Quiz 1

1 How many sonnets are there in total?
126

153

156

154
2 Which of the following best sums up the lines of sonnet 1?
You owe it to the world to have a child so that future generations may appreciate your beauty after you have passed away.

Time destroys all in its path.

My love for you is independent of the beauty that you possess.

You are so obsessed with your own appearance that you are unable to see all the beauty that surrounds you.
3 In sonnet 18, which of the following does the poet NOT mention as a fault in the beauty of a summer's day?
Sometimes the sun is covered with clouds.

The summer season ends too quickly.

The birds lament the coming of fall.

Sometimes the sun beats down too hard.
4 Which of the following best describes a quatrain?
a two-line, typically rhyming unit of verse

a poem of fourteen lines, typically featuring rhyme, meter, and logical structure

a four-line, typically rhyming unit of verse

a type of metrical foot
5 In what year was Shakespeare born?
1609

1616

1598

1564
6 Which of the following appellations does the poet ascribe to the fair lord in sonnet 20?
"master-mistress of my passion"

"sweet up-locked treasure"

"my lovely boy"

"centre of my sinful earth"
7 In sonnet 30, which of the following best paraphrases the line "Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow"?
Then I can submerge my head in water, my eyes not used to the pressure

Then I can grieve over things anew as though I never did before

Then I can cry with eyes that are not used to shedding tears

Then I can cry over the injury of many faded memories
8 Which two sonnets focus on a mythical story involving Cupid?
sonnets 129 and 130

sonnets 20 and 52

sonnets 126 and 127

sonnets 153 and 154
9 Which of the following best sums up the lines of sonnet 52?
Others' words may speak highly of you, but mine come from the heart.

Your beauty is all the more precious since it is so seldom delighted in.

Nature gave you the face of a woman.

What have I done to lose your affection?
10 Which of the following lines from sonnet 60 best exemplifies the inevitability of time?
"Nativity, once in the main of light"

"Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd"

"And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand"

"And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow"
11 In sonnet 73 and elsewhere, the color yellow is used to symbolize which of the following?
hope

youth

the passing of time

innocence
12 How many syllables are found in a traditional line of iambic pentameter?
14

11

12

10
13 Which of the following sonnets is a diatribe against carnal lust?
sonnet 129

sonnet 126

sonnet 52

sonnet 87
14 In sonnet 87, which of the following best paraphrases the line "The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting"?
Your preciousness sets you free from me

There is no justification for my having this gift

This is not the gift I asked for

I did not realize how precious you were
15 Which of the following best sums up the lines of sonnet 94?
The privileged class is like the summer flower that cares only about itself.

Those that do harm to others but do not show it are slow to temptation.

Those that do not show the power they have are the protectors of nature; but if they should fall ill, the lower classes must be brave enough to take their place.

Those that have power but do not use it are the rightful rulers of the earth; but should they be corrupted, they become the worst of them all.
16 In sonnet 116, what is the antecedent of "his" in the line "Within his bending sickle's compass come"?
Love

Time

the North Star

Nature
17 In sonnet 126, what does the word "wrack" mean in the line "If Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack"?
change

creation

beauty

destruction
18 Which of the following lines is the best example of the theme of self-deprecation and inadequacy?
"And, thou away, the very birds are mute" (sonnet 97)

"Wound me not with thine eye but with thy tongue" (sonnet 139)

"Knowing a better spirit doth use your name" (sonnet 80)

"Within the gentle closure of my breast" (sonnet 48)
19 In sonnet 129, which of the following best paraphrases the line "A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe"?
Before having it, an expected joy; after having it, a dream

Hated as soon as it has been enjoyed, and hunted for beyond reason

A heavenly sensation when being had, and a total woe after having had it

Extreme in having it, and extreme in having had it
20 In what country was the sonnet first used as a poetic form?
Italy

England

Greece

France
21 Where in England was Shakespeare born?
Canterbury

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

London

Stratford-upon-Avon
22 Which of the following best sums up the lines of sonnet 130?
My mistress's feet touch the ground when she walks; therefore, she is not a goddess.

My mistress's beauty cannot compare to that of a goddess, but she is no less beautiful than any woman that is described with false comparisons.

My mistress is not physically attractive, but I love her nonetheless.

My mistress is as beautiful as a goddess, and nothing in nature can compare with her beauty.
23 What is the name given to the 1609 publication of the sonnets?
Quarto

First Folio

Second Folio

Codex Poeticus
24 In sonnet 146, whom is the poet addressing in the line "Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?"
the dark lady

his soul

the rival poet

the fair lord
25 With which of the following sonnets is sonnet 153 most similar in content?
sonnet 154

sonnet 52

sonnet 87

sonnet 126

Here the theme of the ravages of time again predominates; we see it especially in line 7, where the poet speaks of the inevitable mortality of beauty: "And every fair from fair sometime declines." But the fair lord's is of another sort, for it...

Asked by Rupam T #1338793

Answered by Aslan on 3/9/2024 4:56 PM