1.2 Vocabulary Exercise: Circle the word that does not belong with the other words.

1. victual rascal food provision

2. melancholy sad gloomy cheerful

Chapter 1

1.4 Questions: Refer to your text as you answer these questions.

1. Literature helps to develop our sense of the value of what?

Literature develops our sense of the value of words. Sometimes it’s complicated to choose
an appropriate word.

2. In what way does literature surpass all other disciplines?

Literature allows us to feel and experience emotion. Here the study of literature surpasses all
other disciplines. It is difficult to get emotional over periodic tables and so on. Yet with
literature, we can live through the characters and experience the joy.

3. Why do some works endure from age to age and continue to be read by every
generation even though multitudes of books have been written?

The books that continue to be read in every age are those that seem to be timeless; in other
words, these books and poems speak about human emotions, trials, and triumph. So they
are timeless because they tell us about eternal human issues.

4. What is the chief end to the reading of literature and poetry?

Thus, the chief end to the reading of literature and poetry is to delight.Since life is short, we
cannot do or see everything; but we can enjoy many unique experiences and exciting trips
as we travel the world of literature.

5. What is the “stupid stuff” in line 1?

It's the poetry that he thinks is "stupid stuff" (1).

6. Terence’s friends say that Terence seems to be a normal guy for two reasons. What
are these two reasons? (lines 2-4)

Lines 2

You eat your victuals fast enough;

Here the guy we met in the first line keeps talking, and keeps us focused on simple
things. He points out that Terence is doing just fine wolfing down his "victuals" (that's an
old-fashioned word for food).
Lines 3-4

There can't be much amiss, 'tis clear,

To see the rate you drink your beer.

Here the fellow talking to Terence keeps up the comments. He's teasing Terence,
pointing out that the poet can't be feeling all that bad if he's knocking back the beers as fast
as he is. This is a friendly, barroom chat, one guy needling the other, just like folks do in a
bar today.

7. What gives Terence’s friends “the belly-ache”? (line 5)

The food and beer might be going down fine, but Terence's "verse" (his poetry) gives the
speaker a "belly-ache."

8. According to Terence’s friends, what killed the cow? (line 10)

Another little joke from the speaker, who says it's "tunes" (verse) like Terence's that killed the
cow.

9. Terence states that there are three things that are “brisker pipes than poetry.” What
are they? (lines 20, 21, and 23)

Livelier, malt, ale

10. What sort of people wish to get intoxicated? (line 24)

For fellows whom it hurts to think.

11. While being drunk for awhile is “pleasant,” what is the problem with drinking?
(line 28)

The problem ("the mischief") is that being drunk doesn't last. Eventually you'll sober up
again. Of course we here at Shmoop don't support getting drunk at all… but you get his
point, right? Beer, in this poem, is partly a symbol for any temporary pleasure, anything that
feels good for a minute but leaves you right back where you started (or worse).

12. While Terence was drunk, what two things did he think? (lines 33-34)

Then the world seemed none so bad,

And I myself a sterling lad;

While he was drunk, the world looked pretty good to Terence, and he felt good about himself.
He thought he was a "sterling lad".
Again, the focus here is on temporary pleasure. He's not trying to pretend those good
feelings aren't there for a moment. Just that they don't last.

13. Whenever he was drunk, where did Terence sleep? (line 35)

Coming home from Ludlow fair, he was so drunk that he laid down in the mud, and slept
happily until he woke up again.

14. When he wakes up, what did Terence discover? (lines 38-39)

Heigho, the tale was all a lie;

The world, it was the old world yet

15. Terence learns that after “a night on the town,” he was the same, except for what?
(line 40)

I was I, my things were wet

The only change is that the "lovely muck" got his stuff wet.

16. For the person who drinks in order to cope with troubles, what is the only
solution? (lines 41-42)

Notice the alliteration in both of these lines: "nothing now" and "But begin." Housman is
subtly reminding us that, even if drinking can't really help with our problems, poetry might be
able to.

17. While the “sun and moon endure,” what is possible? (line 46)

Basically, this line means that there's always going to be trouble. We might have
good luck sometimes, but we can count on bad luck.

18. But what is a sure thing in life? (line 46)

But trouble’s sure.

19. What will a wise man train for? (line 48)

Since the world is mostly bad and full of trouble, he figures it's better to prepare ("train") for
bad things rather than good ones.

20. In line 51, what is the “stem” that “scored the hand”?

Basically, Terence is keeping up the analogy between writing poems and brewing beer. Beer
comes from grain, like wheat or barley. So Terence imagines himself squeezing his poetry
out of a plant (a stem) that cut ("scored") his hand while he "wrung" (that's an old word for
squeezed) it.
21. In lines 53-54, Terence compares his poetry to what?

His logic goes like this: He admits that the taste ("smack") of poetry is "sour" (he's
keeping up the "poetry as beer" analogy).
Still, he thinks that something sour is a better match for the sadness of life that he's
been talking about ("the embittered hour").

22. What is the name of the king in line 59?

Mithridates

23. The king was afraid that he would die by what method? (line 62)

With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.

24. What does the king do to prevent his death? (lines 63-66)

He gathered all that springs to birth

From the many-venomed earth;

● But this crafty king has a plan to stay safe. He gathers up all the poisons that arise
("spring to birth") from the earth. "Many-venomed" just means full of different kinds of
poisons.

First a little, thence to more,

He sampled all her killing store;

● Then, weirdly, he starts to eat or "sample" these poisons. He starts small, then builds
up from there, until he's tried the whole supply of poisons (the "killing store") that the
earth produces.
● Notice the subtle personification when he refers to the earth as "her." Making the
earth a girl is a pretty common poetic move, but we think it's a little creepier when
"she" is making poison. The earth is supposed to be our mother, right? Well, it fits
right in with Terence's gloomy vision of the world.

25. Does the king die after eating arsenic and drinking strychnine?

The king, whose name turns out to be Mithridates, lived to a ripe old age, at least according
to the fable that Terence heard.

26. How do we now this? (line 76)

The king, whose name turns out to be Mithridates, lived to a ripe old age, at least according
to the fable that Terence heard.

Moping Melancholy Mad: An Introduction to Poetry

2.2 Vocabulary Exercise:

Circle the word that does not belong with the other words.

1. sonorous resonant unwilling vibrant

2. desideratum necessity essential platform

3. nonchalance casualness motive informality

4. circumscription circle stricture constraint

5. tempestuous blustery violent tempting

6. denouement resolution deportment end result

7. epoch elegy age era

8. emblematical mysterious token symbolic

Chapter 2

1. Does Poe believe that composing a poem is by accident or by precision and

planning?

The work proceeded step by step, to its completion, with the precision and rigid
consequence of a mathematical problem.…

2. What is the first consideration when writing a poem?

The initial consideration was that of extent. If any literary work is too long to be read at one
sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from
unity of impression—for, if two sittings be required, the affairs of the world interfere, and
everything like totality is at once destroyed. But since no poet can afford to dispense with
anything that may advance his design, it but remains to be seen whether there is, in extent,
any advantage to counterbalance the loss of unity which attends it. Here I say no, at once.
What we term a long poem is, in fact, merely a succession of brief ones—that is to say, of
brief poetical effects. It is needless to demonstrate that a poem is such only inasmuch as it
intensely excites, by elevating the soul; and all intense excitements are, through a psychal
necessity, brief.

3. What is the ideal length of a literary work?

The proper length for my intended poem—a length of about one hundred lines.
4. According to Poe, what is the “sole legitimate province of the poem”?

Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem.

5. Truth and Passion are better expressed in prose or poetry? Why?

While Truth and Passion can be a part of poetry, prose seems to be a better vehicle for
these qualities rather than poetry.

6. According to Poe, what is “the most legitimate of all poetical tones”?

Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones.

7. What is the most sonorous vowel in the English language?

The long “o” as the most sonorous vowel.

8. Before Poe decided on using a Raven in his poem, what other bird did he first
consider?

When Poe was writing the poem, he said he first considered another talking bird, the parrot.

9. What is the most melancholy of all topics?

I asked myself—“Of all melancholy topics what, according to the universal understanding of
mankind, is the most melancholy?” Death, was the obvious reply.

10. At which point does Poe begin writing his poem—at the beginning, in the middle,
or toward the end?

Here then the poem may be said to have had its beginning—at the end where all works of
art should begin.

11. What are the two reasons that Poe gives for writing at this point first?

Here then the poem may be said to have had its beginning—at the end where all works of
art should begin—for it was here at this point of my preconsiderations that I first put pen to
paper in the composition of the stanza.

The next point to be considered was the mode of bringing together the lover and the
Raven—and the first branch of this consideration was the locale.

12. At the end of the poem, the reader discovers that the Raven becomes a symbol for
what?

Symbolism: The Raven

Poe himself meant the Raven to symbolize 'mournful, never-ending remembrance. ' Our
narrator's sorrow for his lost, perfect maiden Lenore is the driving force behind his
conversation with the Raven.

Lesson 5

5.2 Vocabulary Exercise

1. The three boys held a funeral for their mascot, Creepy the roach, and Robert gave the
elegy, which was replete with silly sentimentality.
2. When her classmates chose Sally as class president, Martha created a pique with
everyone due to her wounded pride.

1. Generally, which parts of speech in the English language are emphasized?

Some words are emphasized, like nouns, verbs, and adjectives, while other words, like
articles and prepositions, are weakly stressed.

2. Which parts of speech are weakly stressed?

Weak forms are syllable sounds that become unstressed in connected speech and are often
then pronounced as a schwa.

3. When we divide the natural rhythm of our speech into equal units, we call this
what?

Isochrony.

4. What is “verse”?

Writing that is arranged in a rhythmic pattern; poems.

5. Placing stress marks above the words in a line of poetry is called what?

Scanning Poetry
The most common method of scanning a poem is to place marks above the syllables to
indicate whether they are stressed or unstressed.

6. What is the surprise ending in “An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog”?

The implication is that the man was so toxic (because he was far from being a good
Christian really) that the dog, through biting him, has been poisoned by him.

7. In “The Tyger,” what alliterations are found in lines 1 and 4?

Tyger Tyger
thy symmetry
8. In line 17, who do you think are the “stars”? (see Revelation 12:7-9)

“The stars” can be taken as the rebel angels.

9. In line 19, who is “he”?

God.

10. What are the similes in Stanza 1 of “The Destruction of Sennacherib.”

The first simile of the poem compares the Assyrian King Sennacherib to a wolf on a fold
“The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold”. This simile uses a natural element of the
wolf to set the mood of the attacking army as vicious, blood thirsty and without mercy, like
the animal it’s being equated to. The next simile found compares the reflection off Assyrian
soldier’s spears to the stars reflecting off the sea “And the sheen of their spears was like
stars on the sea”. Since there are tremendous amount of stars in a night sky the simile
brings forth an image of thousands of warriors readying to destroy the Israelites.

11. What are the similes in Stanza 2?

Byron reinforces the last image with the next simile found on lines six and seven “Like the
leaves of the forest when summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were
seen”. He compares the vast army to the leaves in the forest while it’s green this better
conveys the idea of Sennacherib’s extensive army and also changes the mood bringing a
feeling of impending doom for the battle to come. This also brings about the image of a
massive expanse of warriors readying for nightfall. On the following lines eight and nine
Byron follows this comparison with one of the same thyme of nature but containing the
opposite effect “Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the
morrow lay withered and strown”. In this simile he uses nature process of leafs dying on
trees shedding them for winter to express that he army has been destroyed overnight and no
longer poses a threat to the Israelites. The simile clearly paints an image of the Assyrian
army destroyed without a battle.

12. What was “cold” in line 16?

Death is a gradual process – ‘and the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill’ – but an
instant one. It is not terribly long, it does not hurt. One minute, they are alive, they breathe,
they exist. By the next, they are dead, growing cold and chilly on the ground.

13. What is the simile in Stanza 4?

In the fourth stanza of the poem Byron continues to reinforces the destruction of King
Sennacherib’s army with the metaphor found in lines thirteen through sixteen
“And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride:
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf”.
The stanzas directed to a dying horse that has breathed its last breath and is foaming at the
mouth from exertion caused by it’s to breath. Byron chose this metaphor to better relate the
demolished army to the reader. He uses the natural metaphor of the oceans cold spray to
convey the shift in mood and the oceans beating surf to convey the violence of the
destruction the has taken place.

14. What is the simile in Stanza 6?

- The simile 'melted like snow' is used to emphasise the fact that for all their might, Assyrians
were no match the Angel of Death. - This idea is intensified with the final phrase 'the glance
of the Lord!' Proving that God needed to make barely any effort in order to defeat
Sennacherib's army.

15. In “Eve,” what is Eve doing? (lines 5-6)

5 Picking a dish of sweet

6 Berries and plums to eat,

16. What are the alliterations in lines 9-12?

9 Mute as a mouse in a
10 Corner the cobra lay,
11 Curled round a bough of the
12 Cinnamon tall....

17. What is the simile in line 9?

Mute as a mouse in a-behaves quietly

18. Who is the “Pretender” in line 28?

The cobra, devil

19. What is the “Blasphemous Tree” in line 48?

Something that defames the name of god.

Now do the following lines.

But oh, good Lord, the verse you make,

It gives a chap the belly-ache.

How many feet are in each of the above lines?

Two in the first and three in the second.
What foot is used?
Lamb
What do we call each of these lines?
Dimeter: two feet Trimeter: three feet
Fair is foul, and foul is fair.
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
How many feet are in the above lines?
Four and two
What is the name of the metric foot?
Lamb
In these deep solitudes and awful cells,
Where heav’nly-pensive contemplation dwells,
And ever-musing melancholy reigns.
How many feet are in the last three lines immediately above?
Ten
What foot is used in these lines?
Dactyl