Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines) Quizzes

Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines) Quiz

1 What type of stanzas make up this poem?

Quatrains and tercets

Couplets and one-line stanzas

Sestets

Couplets and tercets
2 Which of the following claims does this poem most closely suggest?

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

The natural world can offer great comfort to the struggling

Men and women are fundamentally different from one another

Poets are likely to be unhappy in love because of their artistic personalities
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 parent whose child has gone missing

The speaker is a person dealing with romantic rejection or parting
4 Which sound produces alliteration in the phrase "my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her"?

O

S

T

N
5 In what language was this poem originally written?

Arabic

French

English

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

Personification

Ekphrasis

Simile

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

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

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

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

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

S

V

A

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

Grass

Heartbreak

Dew

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

The speaker is known as a terrible poet

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

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

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

"infinite" and "still"

"deadened" and "tired"

"blue" and "deep"

"soft" and "quiet"
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 continue to write until he has written the saddest lines

That he will write no more poetry about his ex-lover
13 Which is a major theme in this poem?

Hospitality and care

Leftist politics

Masculinity

Poetry and language
14 Which of the following sound devices appears in the phrase "still more immense without her"?

Assonance

Hyperbole

Anaphora

End rhyme
15 Which line includes an example of synecdoche?

"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."

"Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes."
16 Which is a major theme of this poem?

Heartbreak

Urban life

Technology

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

Distraught

Awestruck

Arrogant

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

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

He is unable to decide whether he still loves her

He feels furious and vengeful towards her

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?

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

"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."

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

Anapestic hexameter

Free verse

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic tetrameter
21 Which of the following is personified in this poem?

The dirt

The trees

The wind

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

Adorning

Obscuring

Whitening

Sweeping
23 Which best describes the poem's setting?

A bustling university campus

A factory in Chile's capital

A windy, starry night

An empty street at dawn
24 Which does the poem most closely imply about nature?

Humans project emotion onto an uncaring natural world

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
25 The line "Tonight I can write the saddest lines" contains which of the following?

Understatement

Hyperbole

Personification

Simile

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Study Guide for Tonight I Can Write (The Saddest Lines)

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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