GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of World Poetry 1660–1925
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
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Example Questions
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?
La bonne chanson
Hombres (Hommes)
Sagesse
Les Illuminations
Poèmes saturniens
Les Illuminations
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?
Wales
Austria-Hungary
Abyssinia
Prussia
France
France
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?
Jean Racine
Paul Valéry
André Breton
Paul Verlaine
Guillaume Apollinaire
Paul Verlaine
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?
Rainer Maria Rilke
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Heinrich Heine
Friedrich Hölderlin
Hermann Hesse
Rainer Maria Rilke
This is Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “The Panther.”
Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)
Example Question #5 : 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.
Besides German, which of the following languages did this author most frequently write in?
Russian
Czech
English
Hungarian
French
French
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 #6 : 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.
What other work did the author of this poem write?
Roman Elegies
Letters to a Young Poet
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship
Theory of Colours
Letters to a Young Poet
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 #7 : 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.
What country is this author from?
Saxony
Austria-Hungary
Prussia
Belgium
Serbia
Austria-Hungary
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 #8 : Contexts Of World Poetry 1660–1925
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?
Alexander Pushkin
Vladimir Nabokov
Osip Mandelstam
Paul Valéry
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Alexander Pushkin
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)
Example Question #9 : Contexts Of World Poetry 1660–1925
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.
Which of the following is not another work by this poet?
Egipetskaya marka (The Egyptian Stamp)
Ruslan and Ludmila
The Gypsies
Dubrovsky
Eugene Onegin
Egipetskaya marka (The Egyptian Stamp)
Pushkin wrote Eugene Onegin (1925), Ruslan and Ludmila (1820), The Gypsies (1827), and Dubrovsky (1841). Egipetskaya marka (The Egyptian Stamp) is by Osip Mandelstam.
Passage adapted from Alexander Pushkin’s The Bakchesarian Fountain, transl. William D. Lewis (1849)
Example Question #10 : Contexts Of World Poetry 1660–1925
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.
What country is the author of this poem from?
Slovakia
Latvia
Russia
Serbia
Lithuania
Russia
Alexander Pushkin was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1799 and died in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1837.
Passage adapted from Alexander Pushkin’s The Bakchesarian Fountain, transl. William D. Lewis (1849)
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