Poetry: "The Lake of the Dismal Swamp" by Thomas Moore Answers

Read the excerpt below from “The Lake of the Dismal Swamp” by Thomas Moore and answer the question that follows. “They made her a grave, too cold and dampFor a soul so warm and true;And she’s gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp,Where, all night long, by a fire-fly lamp,She paddles her white canoe. Which poetic device is illustrated by the line, “. . . all night long, by a fire-fly lamp”?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Robin Hood and the Scotchman” Now bold Robin Hood to the north would go,With valour and mickle might;With sword by his side, which oft had been try’d,To fight and recover his right. The first that he met was a jolly stout Scot,His servant he said he would be;No quoth Robin Hood, it cannot be good.For thou wilt prove false unto me. Thou hast not been true to sire or cuz:Nay marry, the Scot he said;As true as your heart, I never will part,Good master be not afraid. But e’er I employ you, said bold Robin hood,With you I must have a bout;The Scotchman reply’d, let the battle be try’d,For I know I will beat you out. Thus saying, the contest did quickly begin,Which lasted two hours and more;The blows Sawney gave bold Robin so brave,The battle soon made him give o’er. Have mercy, thou Scotchman, bold Robin Hood cry’d,Full dearly this boon have I bought;We will both agree, and my man you shall be,For a stouter I never have fought. Then Sawney consented with Robin to go,To be of his bowmen so gay;Thus ended the fight, and with mickle delightTo Sherwood they hasted away. Source: “Robin Hood and the Scotchman.” The Robin Hood Garlands and Ballads. Ed. John Mathew Gutch, William Hone, Francis Douce, and Edward Francis Rimbault. London: John Russell Smith and Joseph Lilly, 1750. 392-93. Google Books. Web. 24 June 2011. How would you describe the rhyme scheme of this poem?

Which line from the poem “The Lake of the Dismal Swamp” by Thomas Moore is the best example of imagery?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Robin Hood and the Scotchman” Now bold Robin Hood to the north would go,With valour and mickle might;With sword by his side, which oft had been try’d,To fight and recover his right. The first that he met was a jolly stout Scot,His servant he said he would be;No quoth Robin Hood, it cannot be good.For thou wilt prove false unto me. Thou hast not been true to sire or cuz:Nay marry, the Scot he said;As true as your heart, I never will part,Good master be not afraid. But e’er I employ you, said bold Robin hood,With you I must have a bout;The Scotchman reply’d, let the battle be try’d,For I know I will beat you out. Thus saying, the contest did quickly begin,Which lasted two hours and more;The blows Sawney gave bold Robin so brave,The battle soon made him give o’er. Have mercy, thou Scotchman, bold Robin Hood cry’d,Full dearly this boon have I bought;We will both agree, and my man you shall be,For a stouter I never have fought. Then Sawney consented with Robin to go,To be of his bowmen so gay;Thus ended the fight, and with mickle delightTo Sherwood they hasted away. Source: “Robin Hood and the Scotchman.” The Robin Hood Garlands and Ballads. Ed. John Mathew Gutch, William Hone, Francis Douce, and Edward Francis Rimbault. London: John Russell Smith and Joseph Lilly, 1750. 392-93. Google Books. Web. 24 June 2011. Who is the speaker in this poem?

Read the excerpt below from the poem “Ulalume” by Edgar Allan Poe and answer the question that follows. The skies they were ashen and sober;The leaves they were crispéd and sere—The leaves they were withering and sere;It was night in the lonesome OctoberOf my most immemorial year;It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,In the misty mid region of Weir—It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir. Here once, through an alley Titanic,Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul—Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul.These were days when my heart was volcanicAs the scoriac rivers that roll—As the lavas that restlessly rollTheir sulphurous currents down YaanekIn the ultimate climes of the pole—That groan as they roll down Mount YaanekIn the realms of the boreal pole. Our talk had been serious and sober,But our thoughts they were palsied and sere—Our memories were treacherous and sere—For we knew not the month was October,And we marked not the night of the year—(Ah, night of all nights in the year!)We noted not the dim lake of Auber—(Though once we had journeyed down here)—We remembered not the dank tarn of Auber,Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir. Source: Poe, Edgar Allan. “Ulalume.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 June 2011. Which words from the poem help evoke the mood and set a place and time?

What is imagery?

Read the poem below and complete the instruction that follows. “Porphyria’s Lover”by Robert Browning The rain set early in to-night,The sullen wind was soon awake,It tore the elm-tops down for spite,And did its worst to vex the lake:I listened with heart fit to break. [5]When glided in Porphyria; straightShe shut the cold out and the storm,And kneeled and made the cheerless grateBlaze up, and all the cottage warm;Which done, she rose, and from her form [10]Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl,And laid her soiled gloves by, untiedHer hat and let the damp hair fall,And, last, she sat down by my sideAnd called me. When no voice replied, [15]She put my arm about her waist,And made her smooth white shoulder bare,And all her yellow hair displaced,And, stooping, made my cheek lie there,And spread, o’er all, her yellow hair, [20]Murmuring how she loved me—sheToo weak, for all her heart’s endeavour,To set its struggling passion freeFrom pride, and vainer ties dissever,And give herself to me for ever. [25]But passion sometimes would prevail,Nor could to-night’s gay feast restrainA sudden thought of one so paleFor love of her, and all in vain:So, she was come through wind and rain. [30]Be sure I looked up at her eyesHappy and proud; at last I knewPorphyria worshipped me; surpriseMade my heart swell, and still it grewWhile I debated what to do. [35]That moment she was mine, mine, fair,Perfectly pure and good: I foundA thing to do, and all her hairIn one long yellow string I woundThree times her little throat around, [40]And strangled her. No pain felt she;I am quite sure she felt no pain.As a shut bud that holds a bee,I warily oped her lids: againLaughed the blue eyes without a stain. [45]And I untightened next the tressAbout her neck; her cheek once moreBlushed bright beneath my burning kiss:I propped her head up as before,Only, this time my shoulder bore [50]Her head, which droops upon it still:The smiling rosy little head,So glad it has its utmost will,That all it scorned at once is fled,And I, its love, am gained instead! [55]Porphyria’s love: she guessed not howHer darling one wish would be heard.And thus we sit together now,And all night long we have not stirred,And yet God has not said a word! [60] Source: Browning, Robert. “Porphyria’s Lover.” 1836. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp, Greg Johnson, and Laurence Perrine. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. 857-59. Print. Identify the metrical pattern.

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Robin Hood and the Scotchman” Now bold Robin Hood to the north would go,With valour and mickle might;With sword by his side, which oft had been try’d,To fight and recover his right. The first that he met was a jolly stout Scot,His servant he said he would be;No quoth Robin Hood, it cannot be good.For thou wilt prove false unto me. Thou hast not been true to sire or cuz:Nay marry, the Scot he said;As true as your heart, I never will part,Good master be not afraid. But e’er I employ you, said bold Robin hood,With you I must have a bout;The Scotchman reply’d, let the battle be try’d,For I know I will beat you out. Thus saying, the contest did quickly begin,Which lasted two hours and more;The blows Sawney gave bold Robin so brave,The battle soon made him give o’er. Have mercy, thou Scotchman, bold Robin Hood cry’d,Full dearly this boon have I bought;We will both agree, and my man you shall be,For a stouter I never have fought. Then Sawney consented with Robin to go,To be of his bowmen so gay;Thus ended the fight, and with mickle delightTo Sherwood they hasted away. Source: “Robin Hood and the Scotchman.” The Robin Hood Garlands and Ballads. Ed. John Mathew Gutch, William Hone, Francis Douce, and Edward Francis Rimbault. London: John Russell Smith and Joseph Lilly, 1750. 392-93. Google Books. Web. 24 June 2011. Determine the meter of this poem. Which of the following is the correct meter?

Read the excerpt below from the poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer and answer the question that follows. Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip. Source: Thayer, Ernest Lawrence. “Casey at the Bat.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 June 2011. Which technique is the author using in this stanza?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Birmingham Sunday”by Richard Fariña Come round by my side and I’ll sing you a song.I’ll sing it so softly, it’ll do no one wrong.On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine,And the choir kept singing of Freedom. That cold autumn morning no eyes saw the sun,And Addie Mae Collins, her number was one.At an old Baptist church there was no need to run.And the choir kept singing of Freedom, The clouds they were grey and the autumn winds blew,And Denise McNair brought the number to two.The falcon of death was a creature they knew,And the choir kept singing of Freedom, The church it was crowded, but no one could seeThat Cynthia Wesley’s dark number was three. Her prayers and her feelings would shame you and me.And the choir kept singing of Freedom. Young Carol Robertson entered the doorAnd the number her killers had given was four.She asked for a blessing but asked for no more,And the choir kept singing of Freedom. On Birmingham Sunday a noise shook the ground.And people all over the earth turned around.For no one recalled a more cowardly sound.And the choir kept singing of Freedom. The men in the forest they once asked of me,How many black berries grew in the Blue Sea.And I asked them right back with a tear in my eye.How many dark ships in the forest? The Sunday has come and the Sunday has gone.And I can’t do much more than to sing you a song.I’ll sing it so softly, it’ll do no one wrong.And the choirs keep singing of Freedom. Which of the following best describes the structure of this poem?