Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines) Quizzes

Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines) Quiz

By Eleanor Stern · Edited by James Cooper · Last reviewed September 05, 2021

1 What type of stanzas make up this poem?

Couplets and one-line stanzas

Quatrains and tercets

Couplets and tercets

Sestets
2 Which of the following claims does this poem most closely suggest?

The natural world can offer great comfort to the struggling

Strong feelings can make it harder, not easier, to express oneself in writing

Poets are likely to be unhappy in love because of their artistic personalities

Men and women are fundamentally different from one another
3 Which best describes the poem's speaker?

The speaker is a priest listening to confessons

The speaker is a prisoner who has been put in jail for protesting

The speaker is a person dealing with romantic rejection or parting

The speaker is a parent whose child has gone missing
4 Which sound produces alliteration in the phrase "my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her"?

T

O

S

N
5 In what language was this poem originally written?

Spanish

Arabic

French

English
6 The phrase "the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture" is an example of which of the following?

Metaphor

Simile

Personification

Ekphrasis
7 How does the speaker's perception of his surroundings change before and after his lover's rejection?

He initially perceives it as threatening, but later perceives it as weak

He initially perceives it as organized, but later perceives it as chaotic

He initially perceives it as suffocating, but later perceives it as exciting

He initially perceives it as thrilling, but later perceives it as desolate
8 Which sound produces assonance in the phrase "shiver in the distance"?

V

S

I

A
9 The speaker compares poetry to which of the following?

Dew

Heartbreak

Grass

Stars
10 Why is the speaker's claim in the first line ironic?

The speaker does not know that his life is soon going to improve

The lines that he offers as an example are not dramatically sad

The speaker is known as a terrible poet

The speaker is feeling extremely happy
11 How does the speaker describe the lover's eyes?

"deadened" and "tired"

"blue" and "deep"

"soft" and "quiet"

"infinite" and "still"
12 What promise does the speaker make in the poem's final lines?

That he will regain his lost love through beautiful poems

That he will never speak or use language again

That he will write no more poetry about his ex-lover

That he will continue to write until he has written the saddest lines
13 Which is a major theme in this poem?

Masculinity

Hospitality and care

Poetry and language

Leftist politics
14 Which of the following sound devices appears in the phrase "still more immense without her"?

Anaphora

Assonance

End rhyme

Hyperbole
15 Which line includes an example of synecdoche?

"Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes."

"Tonight I can write the saddest lines."

"My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her."

"Through nights like this one I held her in my arms."
16 Which is a major theme of this poem?

Technology

Urban life

Heartbreak

The rights of the elderly
17 Which best describes the poem's tone?

Arrogant

Exuberant

Distraught

Awestruck
18 Which best describes the speaker's feelings about his lover?

He is unable to decide whether he still loves her

He feels furious and vengeful towards her

He does not miss her, but he misses the stability she provided

He is angry at himself for ending their relationship
19 Which of the following is most explicitly offered as an example of a sad line of poetry?

"The night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance."

"And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture."

"I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too."

"Love is so short, forgetting is so long."
20 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic tetrameter

Free verse

Anapestic hexameter
21 Which of the following is personified in this poem?

The eyes

The dirt

The wind

The trees
22 Fill in the blank: "The same night _____ the same trees."

Sweeping

Adorning

Whitening

Obscuring
23 Which best describes the poem's setting?

A bustling university campus

An empty street at dawn

A factory in Chile's capital

A windy, starry night
24 Which does the poem most closely imply about nature?

Nature is an expression of God's mysterious care

Nature is vulnerable to outside forces, just as people are

The natural world is brutal, but no more than human beings

Humans project emotion onto an uncaring natural world
25 The line "Tonight I can write the saddest lines" contains which of the following?

Personification

Hyperbole

Simile

Understatement

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Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines) study guide contains a biography of Pablo Neruda, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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