When I Was One-and-Twenty Quizzes

When I Was One-and-Twenty "When I Was One-and-Twenty"

By Claire Adler · Edited by James Cooper · Last reviewed November 14, 2022

1 When did Housman write the majority of his poetry?

The early twentieth century

The mid nineteenth century

The late nineteenth century

The early nineteenth century
2 Who is the speaker of “When I Was One-and-Twenty”?

A middle-aged man from the countryside

A young man from the countryside

A younger version of Housman

An old man who has moved to the city
3 Which of the following best describes Housman's character as a scholar?

Lax

Garrulous

Witty

Confrontational
4 Which of the following does not describes Housman as a poet?

Scholarly

Sentimental

Witty

Old-fashioned
5 What is the title of Housman's most famous collection of poems?

A London Lad

A London Boy

A Shropshire Lad

A Shropshire Boy
6 How long are the stanzas in "When I Was One-and-Twenty"?

Seven Lines

Six Lines

Sixteen Lines

Eight Lines
7 What is the rhyme scheme of "When I Was One-and-Twenty"?

ABCBCDAD

ABABABAB

The two stanzas do not share a rhyme scheme

ABCBADAD
8 How does the speaker characterize himself in the past?

Proud

Happy

Poor

Stupid
9 How does the wise man describe love?

As an overwhelming force

As a transaction

As a feeling that should be reserved for God

As a relationship with other people
10 What does the ending of the first stanza imply?

The speaker gave away his heart

The speaker is in love now but not then

The speaker was already in love

The speaker never fell in love
11 Which of the following best describes Housman's version of rural life?

Demonized

Idealized

Accurate

Critical
12 Who was the primary audience of pastoral poetry?

Rural people who had moved to the city and were nostalgic for what they left behind

Suburbanites who saw themselves as rural

Rural people reading about their own lives

Urbanites attracted to the fantasy of rural life
13 Which of the following is not an example of "old-fashioned" language in "When I Was One-and-Twenty"?

'Tis

Guinea

Bosom

Rue
14 Which element of pastoral poetry does Housman employ most frequently?

Focus on shepherds

Religious allegory

Simple, innocent speaker

Descriptions of the countryside
15 Why might Housman have been attracted to the pastoral genre?

He found it freeing

He believed all scholarship should be emotional

He wanted to criticize the genre

He was himself from Shropshire
16 What does the phrase "in vain" usually connote?

A bad deal

A costly expenditure

A valuable sacrifice

A tragic heartbreak
17 How do the last two lines subvert the reader's expectations?

We assumed the speaker had a positive view of love

We assumed the speaker was older

We assumed the speaker was learned

We assumed the wise man was wrong
18 What is ironic about the wise man's allusion to "endless" woe?

In reality, the speaker has already gotten over the pain of love

The speaker is only sad because he never found love

The speaker's youth means he can't know that his grief is really endless

None of the above
19 How does the irony of "When I Was One-and-Twenty" change the mood of the poem?

It renders the poem more pessimisstic

It renders the poem more optimistic

It reveals Housman's hatred of the speaker

It renders the poem more bitter
20 What does "When I Was One-and-Twenty" suggest about love?

A cynical attitude about love can be just as naive as a hopeful one

Love is just a transaction, and the lover always ends up losing

Love is painful, but the pain is worth it

True love is something only young people can experience
21 How does Housman NOT characterize the speaker?

As a bit foolish

As bitter

As world-weary

As wise
22 What is suspicious about the "wise man"?

The advice he gives turns out to be incorrect

His wisdom is in the eyes of the youthful speaker

He doesn't listen to the young man's response

The advice he gives serves to benefit him
23 Which of the following is a similarity between "When I Was One-and-Twenty" and the famous pastoral poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe?

Both poems emphasize pleasure

Both poems are ironic

Both poems describe the beauty of the countryside

Both poems are writen in a sing-song style
24 When and where did the pastoral tradition originate?

Ancient Rome

Renaissance England

Ancient Greece

The English industrial revolution
25 How does the wise man's transactional vision of love evolve over the course of the poem?

It becomes more pronounced

It is proven wrong by the joys of love

It is tempered by grief

It remains stable throughout the poem

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Study Guide for When I Was One-and-Twenty

When I Was One-and-Twenty study guide contains a biography of A. E. Housman, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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