GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of World Poetry

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English

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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

1 Diagnostic Test 158 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept

Example Questions

Example Question #142 : Contexts Of Poetry

Of arms I sing, and of the man, whom Fate

First drove from Troy to the Lavinian shore.

Full many an evil, through the mindful hate

Of cruel Juno, from the gods he bore,

Much tost on earth and ocean, yea, and more

In war enduring, ere he built a home,

And his loved household-deities brought o’er

To Latium, whence the Latin people come,

Whence rose the Alban sires, and walls of lofty Rome.

Which of the following works was not influenced by this one?

Possible Answers:

The Divine Comedy

Paradise Lost

Beowulf

The Rape of the Lock

The Decameron

Correct answer:

The Decameron

Explanation:

Boccaccio's The Decameron (1351), a 14th-century collection of Italian stories, does not demonstrate any direct influence by Virgil’s work; instead, The Decameron is often cited as the inspiration for other European prose (most notably, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1475)).

John Milton's Paradise Lost (1674), Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock (1712), and Beowulf (975-1025?) were also used as alternative answers.

Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor (1907)

Example Question #143 : Contexts Of Poetry

Of arms I sing, and of the man, whom Fate

First drove from Troy to the Lavinian shore.

Full many an evil, through the mindful hate

Of cruel Juno, from the gods he bore,

Much tost on earth and ocean, yea, and more

In war enduring, ere he built a home,

And his loved household-deities brought o’er

To Latium, whence the Latin people come,

Whence rose the Alban sires, and walls of lofty Rome.

Which of the following is not a major character in this work?

Possible Answers:

Menelaus

Creusa

Juno

Anchises

Dido

Correct answer:

Menelaus

Explanation:

Although Aeneis is from Troy and Menelaus is the husband of Helen of Troy, Menelaus is in fact a major character in Homer’s The Iliad and not Virgil’s The Aeneid.

Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor (1907)

Example Question #1 : Contexts Of World Poetry 1660–1925

Le Bateau Ivre

Comme je descendais des Fleuves impassibles

Je ne me sentis plus guidé par les haleurs;

Des Peaux-Rouges criards les avaient pris pour cibles,

Les ayant cloués nus aux poteaux de couleurs.

(As I floated the impassible rivers

I no longer felt myself guided by the haulers;

The gaudy Redskins had taken them for targets,

And had nailed them naked to totem poles.)

What other work did the author of this poem write?

Possible Answers:

Les Illuminations

La bonne chanson

Sagesse

Poèmes saturniens

Hombres (Hommes)

Correct answer:

Les Illuminations

Explanation:

Les Illuminations (1886) is an unfinished series of prose poems by Rimbaud. Poèmes saturniens (1866), Sagesse (1880), Hombres (Hommes) (1891), and La bonne chanson (1870) are all works by Paul Verlaine.

Passage adapted from Arthur Rimbaud's "Le Bateau Ivre" ("The Drunken Boat") (1871)

Example Question #2 : Contexts Of World Poetry 1660–1925

Le Bateau Ivre

Comme je descendais des Fleuves impassibles

Je ne me sentis plus guidé par les haleurs;

Des Peaux-Rouges criards les avaient pris pour cibles,

Les ayant cloués nus aux poteaux de couleurs.

(As I floated the impassible rivers

I no longer felt myself guided by the haulers;

The gaudy Redskins had taken them for targets,

And had nailed them naked to totem poles.)

What country was the author of this poem from?

Possible Answers:

Abyssinia

Prussia

Wales

France

Austria-Hungary

Correct answer:

France

Explanation:

Arthur Rimbaud was born in Charleville, France, in 1854, although he would later abandon poetry and move to Abyssinia to work. Rimbaud died in Marseilles in 1891.

Passage adapted from Arthur Rimbaud's "Le Bateau Ivre" ("The Drunken Boat") (1871)

Example Question #3 : Contexts Of World Poetry 1660–1925

Le Bateau Ivre

Comme je descendais des Fleuves impassibles

Je ne me sentis plus guidé par les haleurs;

Des Peaux-Rouges criards les avaient pris pour cibles,

Les ayant cloués nus aux poteaux de couleurs.

(As I floated the impassible rivers

I no longer felt myself guided by the haulers;

The gaudy Redskins had taken them for targets,

And had nailed them naked to totem poles.)

Which of the following is a contemporary and confidant of this author?

Possible Answers:

Paul Valéry

Guillaume Apollinaire

André Breton

Jean Racine

Paul Verlaine

Correct answer:

Paul Verlaine

Explanation:

All of the poets on this list are French, but not all lived at the same time as Rimbaud. Not only was Paul Verlaine a contemporary of Rimbaud’s, the French poet was also Rimbaud’s lover and partner for a brief, tumultuous period.

Passage adapted from Arthur Rimbaud's "Le Bateau Ivre" ("The Drunken Boat") (1871)

Example Question #4 : Contexts Of World Poetry 1660–1925

His weary glance, from passing by the bars,

Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;

It seems to him there are a thousand bars

And out beyond those bars the empty air.

The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound

Of supple tread behind the iron bands,

Is like a dance of strength circling around,

While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.

But there are times the pupils of his eyes

Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,

Tense with the flood of visions that arise

Only to sink and die within his heart.

Who is the author of this poem?

Possible Answers:

Hermann Hesse

Heinrich Heine

Rainer Maria Rilke

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Friedrich Hölderlin

Correct answer:

Rainer Maria Rilke

Explanation:

This is Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “The Panther.”

Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)

Example Question #142 : Cultural And Historical Contexts

His weary glance, from passing by the bars,

Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;

It seems to him there are a thousand bars

And out beyond those bars the empty air.

The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound

Of supple tread behind the iron bands,

Is like a dance of strength circling around,

While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.

But there are times the pupils of his eyes

Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,

Tense with the flood of visions that arise

Only to sink and die within his heart.

Besides German, which of the following languages did this author most frequently write in?

Possible Answers:

English

Russian

French

Czech

Hungarian

Correct answer:

French

Explanation:

Rilke was known for his writings in not only German but also in French. More than 400 of his poems were originally written in his second language.

Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)

Example Question #151 : Cultural And Historical Contexts

His weary glance, from passing by the bars,

Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;

It seems to him there are a thousand bars

And out beyond those bars the empty air.

The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound

Of supple tread behind the iron bands,

Is like a dance of strength circling around,

While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.

But there are times the pupils of his eyes

Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,

Tense with the flood of visions that arise

Only to sink and die within his heart.

What other work did the author of this poem write?

Possible Answers:

The Sorrows of Young Werther

Roman Elegies

Theory of Colours

Letters to a Young Poet

Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship

Correct answer:

Letters to a Young Poet

Explanation:

Letters to a Young Poet is a 1929 collection of letters that Rilke wrote to a young aspiring poet. The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), Theory of Colours (1810), Roman Elegies (1795), and Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (1795) are by Johann Von Goethe.

Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)

Example Question #152 : Cultural And Historical Contexts

His weary glance, from passing by the bars,

Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;

It seems to him there are a thousand bars

And out beyond those bars the empty air.

The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound

Of supple tread behind the iron bands,

Is like a dance of strength circling around,

While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.

But there are times the pupils of his eyes

Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,

Tense with the flood of visions that arise

Only to sink and die within his heart.

What country is this author from?

Possible Answers:

Serbia

Saxony

Belgium

Prussia

Austria-Hungary

Correct answer:

Austria-Hungary

Explanation:

Rilke was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, which is now a part of the Czech Republic.

Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)

Example Question #153 : Cultural And Historical Contexts

Mute sat Giray, with downcast eye,

  As though some spell in sorrow bound him,

His slavish courtiers thronging nigh,

  In sad expectance stood around him.

The lips of all had silence sealed,

  Whilst, bent on him, each look observant,

  Saw grief's deep trace and passion fervent

Upon his gloomy brow revealed.

Who is the author of this poem?

Possible Answers:

Alexander Pushkin

Vladimir Nabokov

Osip Mandelstam

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Paul Valéry

Correct answer:

Alexander Pushkin

Explanation:

These are the opening lines of Alexander Puskin’s The Bakchesarian Fountain.

Passage adapted from Alexander Pushkin’s The Bakchesarian Fountain, transl. William D. Lewis (1849)

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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