The Soldiers at Lauro

-Spike Milligan

Young are our dead

Like babies they lie
The wombs they blest once
Not healed dry
And yet - too soon
Into each space
A cold earth falls
On colder face.

Quite still they lie

These fresh-cut reeds
Clutched in earth
Like winter seeds
But they will not bloom
When called by spring
To burst with leaf
And blossoming
They sleep on
In silent dust
As crosses rot
And helmets rust.

1. The phrase “like babies they lie” is used to signify that the people lying down are:
a. Very young so they are portrayed as babies.
b. A literal translation, there are dead babies.
c. The people died sleeping like a baby.
 d. They were sleeping so soundly they were portrayed as babies.

This question uses the applying level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

2. In the phrase “a cold earth on colder face” uses what figure of speech to convey its message:
a. Metaphor: Characterized by the exaggeration of a certain aspect of the text
without the use of connectors.
b. Simile: Characterized by the use of connectors such as “like” or “as” to connect
or compare different things.
c. Synekdoche: Characterized by the use of part of an object or person that
represents them.
d. Personification: Characterized by the use of living traits or actions to inanimate
objects.

This question uses the level of applying in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. It can be inferred through the information and text in passages one and two that the
narrator’s tone while referring to the dead is:
a. Sarcastic
b. Somber
c. Effervescent
d. Furious

This question mostly uses the evaluating level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. A simile, the most prominently used figure of speech in the text, can be best described
as:
a. A comparison between two words without the use of connections.
b. A representation of an object with an associated object or a smaller part of it.
c. Series of words that are used to offend people even though its components are
non-offensive by themselves.
d. A comparison between two words with the use of connecting words.

This question mostly uses the remembering level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. The phrase “As crosses rot and helmets rust” is most probably used by the author to:
a. Summarise the plot of the story.
b. Describe the passage of time to the dead in the story.
c. Describe the importance of crosses to the dead.
 d. Explains how certain materials will fall into disrepair after a certain amount of
time.

This question mostly uses the analyzing level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. Throughout the start of the second paragraph the soldiers are compared to:
a. Plants
b. Babies
c. Crosses
d. Helmets

This question uses the understanding level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. It can be inferred throughout the first passage that each “space” refers to:
a. Outer Space
b. A Coffin
c. A Plot of Land
d. A Hole
This question mostly uses the analyzing level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. The Most Likely reason that the soldiers are referred to as fresh cut reeds is:
a. They are 100% organic.
b. They recently got cut by garden shears.
c. They were recently killed.
d. They died young.

This Question uses mostly the understanding level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. What plant or plant part is not used to describe the soldiers:

a. Seeds
b. Leaves
c. Reeds
d. Ferns

This Question uses mostly the remembering level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. What is the name of the author of the poem?

a. Sparky Mulligan
b. Spencer Mitchell
c. Spike Milligan
 d. Spud McGraw

This Question uses mostly the remembering level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. What rhyming scheme does the poem use?

a. A, B, C, B
b. A, A, B, B
c. A, B, A, B
d. A, B, C, D

This Question uses mostly the analyzing level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. The word “clutched” in the poem belongs which group of words:

a. Group, Nest, Brood
b. Grasp, Hold, Clasp
c. Measure, Check, Review
d. Perish, Wilt, Expire

This Question uses mostly the applying level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.