The Widow’s Lament in Springtime Quizzes

The Widow's Lament in Springtime Quiz

By John Melendez · Edited by James Cooper · Last reviewed April 20, 2022

1 When was the poem published?

1912

1921

1931

1964
2 How long is the poem?

29 lines

25 lines

15 lines

32 lines
3 What is the main theme of the poem?

Coping

Rebirth

Loss

Natural beauty
4 Where is the poem set?

In a meadow

In the speaker's backyard

In a field of flowers

In a forest
5 Who is the speaker?

A recently widowed woman

A dying man

A man who has lost his father

A plum tree
6 Why does springtime make the speaker feel sadness?

Because she didn't have time to plant her garden

Because she gets terrible allergies

Because she prefers autumn

Because it reminds her of her husband
7 What is the tone of the poem?

Upbeat and cheery

Mournful and elegiac

Cynical and sarcastic

Dull and monotone
8 Which of the following is NOT an image in the poem?

Plum tree

White flowers

An apple orchard

Grass
9 What is the poem's form?

Rhyme royal

Sonnet

Haiku

Free verse
10 Which of the following lines contains alliteration?

"The plumtree is white today"

"at the edge of the heavy woods"

"flames as it has flamed"

"I lived with my husband."
11 Which movement was Williams associated with?

Imagism

Surrealism

Romanticism

Impressionism
12 What is the poem's genre?

War epic

Nature poetry

Ekphrastic poetry

Love sonnet
13 When does the climax occur?

When the speaker remembers her husband

When the speaker sees the blossoming tree in her yard

When the speaker imagines collapsing into white flowers

When the speaker talks to to her son
14 In "The morns are meeker than they were," what season did Emily Dickinson recontextualize?

Autumn

Summer

Spring

Winter
15 Which of the following lines contains foreshadowing?

"load the cherry branches"

"The plumtree is white today"

"and fall into those flowers"

"Sorrow is my own yard"
16 Which season is William Shakespeare reframing in Sonnet 98?

Autumn

Winter

Spring

Summer
17 Which technique does Williams use throughout the poem?

Enjambment

Extended metaphor

Anaphora

Unconventional capitalization
18 Which theatrical construct is the poem trying to imitate?

Soliloquy

Monologue

Stichomythia

Chorus
19 What do the white flowers at the end of the poem symbolize?

The speaker's acceptance of circumstance

The grace of nature

The memories of the speaker's happy marriage

The speaker's grief
20 Why does Williams choose to set a poem about death in springtime?

To show spring's hidden sadness

To show how loss changes the meaning of images and events

To parallel spring with winter

To show how spring is falsely framed in Victorian poetry
21 What was Williams's style typically characterized as?

Dense

Indulgent

Direct

Flowery
22 How long was the speaker married?

Thirty-five years

Fifteen years

Five years

Twenty-five years
23 Who told the speaker about the white flowers in the meadow?

The speaker's son

The speaker's neighbor

The speaker's husband

The speaker's mother
24 What does the speaker imagine doing at the end of the poem?

Chopping down her plum tree

Mowing the lawn

Going to a meadow with her husband

Falling into a soft bed of white flowers
25 What does the word "marsh" mean?

The shore of a beach

A muddy wetland

A swamp with alligators

A preserve for birdwatching

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Study Guide for The Widow’s Lament in Springtime

The Widow's Lament in Springtime study guide contains a biography of William Carlos Williams, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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