The Widow’s Lament in Springtime Quizzes

The Widow's Lament in Springtime Quiz

1 When was the poem published?
1931

1912

1921

1964
2 How long is the poem?
32 lines

29 lines

15 lines

25 lines
3 What is the main theme of the poem?
Rebirth

Natural beauty

Loss

Coping
4 Where is the poem set?
In the speaker's backyard

In a meadow

In a field of flowers

In a forest
5 Who is the speaker?
A recently widowed woman

A man who has lost his father

A dying man

A plum tree
6 Why does springtime make the speaker feel sadness?
Because she didn't have time to plant her garden

Because she prefers autumn

Because it reminds her of her husband

Because she gets terrible allergies
7 What is the tone of the poem?
Cynical and sarcastic

Mournful and elegiac

Dull and monotone

Upbeat and cheery
8 Which of the following is NOT an image in the poem?
Grass

Plum tree

An apple orchard

White flowers
9 What is the poem's form?
Sonnet

Free verse

Haiku

Rhyme royal
10 Which of the following lines contains alliteration?
"at the edge of the heavy woods"

"flames as it has flamed"

"I lived with my husband."

"The plumtree is white today"
11 Which movement was Williams associated with?
Romanticism

Impressionism

Imagism

Surrealism
12 What is the poem's genre?
Ekphrastic poetry

Love sonnet

Nature poetry

War epic
13 When does the climax occur?
When the speaker sees the blossoming tree in her yard

When the speaker remembers her husband

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?
Spring

Autumn

Winter

Summer
15 Which of the following lines contains foreshadowing?
"The plumtree is white today"

"and fall into those flowers"

"load the cherry branches"

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

Autumn

Spring

Summer
17 Which technique does Williams use throughout the poem?
Enjambment

Anaphora

Unconventional capitalization

Extended metaphor
18 Which theatrical construct is the poem trying to imitate?
Chorus

Monologue

Stichomythia

Soliloquy
19 What do the white flowers at the end of the poem symbolize?
The speaker's grief

The memories of the speaker's happy marriage

The speaker's acceptance of circumstance

The grace of nature
20 Why does Williams choose to set a poem about death in springtime?
To show how loss changes the meaning of images and events

To show spring's hidden sadness

To show how spring is falsely framed in Victorian poetry

To parallel spring with winter
21 What was Williams's style typically characterized as?
Direct

Dense

Indulgent

Flowery
22 How long was the speaker married?
Fifteen years

Thirty-five years

Twenty-five years

Five years
23 Who told the speaker about the white flowers in the meadow?
The speaker's son

The speaker's husband

The speaker's neighbor

The speaker's mother
24 What does the speaker imagine doing at the end of the poem?
Going to a meadow with her husband

Falling into a soft bed of white flowers

Mowing the lawn

Chopping down her plum tree
25 What does the word "marsh" mean?
A muddy wetland

A preserve for birdwatching

A swamp with alligators

The shore of a beach

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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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