GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of Poetry
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
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Example Questions
Example Question #51 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
Five years have passed; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a sweet inland murmur. —Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
Which on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
Which of the following is not another work by the author of this poem?
“She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways”
“The Solitary Reaper”
“Ulysses”
“The Tables Turned”
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
“Ulysses”
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (1802), “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways” (1798), “The Solitary Reaper” (1807), and “The Tables Turned” (1798) are all among Wordsworth’s best known poems. “Ulysses” is an 1844 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Passage adapted from Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798).
Example Question #52 : Contexts Of Poetry
Five years have passed; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a sweet inland murmur. —Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
Which on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
What is the title of this author’s semi-autobiographical poem, known colloquially as “the poem to Coleridge”?
A Refutation of Deism: In a Dialogue
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
The Genius of the Thames: a Lyrical Poem
The Prelude
The Task
The Prelude
The poem in question is the frequently revised and posthumously published The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem, which was intended as the introduction to a work that Wordsworth never finished.
The Task (1785) was written by William Cowper, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812) was written by George Gordon, A Refutation of Deism: In a Dialogue (1814) was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and The Genius of the Thames: a Lyrical Poem (1810) was written by Thomas Love Peacock.
Passage adapted from Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798).
Example Question #52 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said
“Frà Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance…
Who is the author of this poem?
Lewis Carroll
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
Caroline Clive
Robert Browning
Robert Browning
These are the opening lines of Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote Poems, Chiefly Lyrical (1830), Caroline Clive wrote Year after year: a tale (1858), Lewis Carroll wrote Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898), and Mary Elizabeth Coleridge wrote Non Sequitur (1900).
Passage adapted from Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess," from Dramatic Lyrics (1842).
Example Question #53 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said
“Frà Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance…
With which era is this poet associated?
Regency
Victorian
Georgian
Restoration
Modernist
Victorian
Robert Browning, who lived from 1812 to 1889, was a leading Victorian poet.
Passage adapted from Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess," from Dramatic Lyrics (1842).
Example Question #54 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said
“Frà Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance…
When was this poem published?
1850s
1830s
1820s
1810s
1840s
1840s
The poem first appeared in 1842 in Browning’s collection Dramatic Lyrics. Remembering Browning’s birth date (1812) may have helped rule out the earlier decades.
Passage adapted from Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess," from Dramatic Lyrics (1842).
Example Question #55 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said
“Frà Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance…
The author of this passage was married to which famous Victorian writer?
Christina Rossetti
Lady Charlotte Elliot
Lady Caroline Lamb
Elizabeth Barrett
George Eliot
Elizabeth Barrett
Elizabeth Barrett, known as Elizabeth Barrett Browning after her marriage, married Robert Browning in 1846. As a result of the elopement (she kept the courtship secret), she was disinherited by her family.
George Eliot was a novelist, and the author of Middlemarch (1874). Lady Caroline Lamb wrote Ada Reis (1823), Lady Charlotte Elliot wrote Hours of Sorrow Cheered and Comforted (1836), and Christina Rossetti wrote Goblin Market (1862).
Passage adapted from Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess," from Dramatic Lyrics (1842).
Example Question #56 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
Who is the author of this poem?
Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
Christina Rossetti
Robert Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Caroline Clive
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
This is “How Do I Love Thee,” one of the best known poems by the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861).
Robert Browning wrote Pauline: A Fragment of a Confession (1833), Mary Elizabeth Coleridge The King with Two Faces (1897), Christina Rossetti wrote Goblin Market (1862), and Caroline Clive wrote Paul Ferroll: a Tale (1855).
Passage adapted from "How Do I Love Thee," from Sonnets from the Portugese (1850).
Example Question #57 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
What is the title of the collection of famous sonnets written by this poet to her husband?
Sonnets from the Portuguese
Sweet Rose of Virtue
Leda and the Swan
The New Colossus
Bread and Music
Sonnets from the Portuguese
Sonnets from the Portuguese is the title of the collection, which includes “How Do I Love Thee.” All the others are titles of individual sonnets by different authors.
"The New Colossus" (1883) is by Emma Lazarus, "Bread and Music" (1917) is by Conrad Aiken, "Sweet Rose of Virtue" (1633) is by George Herbert, and "Leda and the Swan" (1924) is by William Butler Yeats.
Passage adapted from "How Do I Love Thee," from Sonnets from the Portugese (1850).
Example Question #58 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
To what country did this poet move to aid her poor health?
Greece
Italy
India
France
Portugal
Italy
Due to problems with her lungs, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband moved to Italy in 1846. She would live there until her death in Florence in 1861.
Passage adapted from "How Do I Love Thee," from Sonnets from the Portugese (1850).
Example Question #59 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
Which of the following is the title of another work by this poet?
The Fiery Dawn
Holman Hunt
The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
The Lady on the Drawingroom Floor
Aurora Leigh
Aurora Leigh
Aurora Leigh is an Elizabeth Barrett Browning novel written in blank verse. All the other titles are by the Victorian poet Mary Elizabeth Coleridge. The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus was published in 1898, The Fiery Dawn was published in 1901, The Lady on the Drawingroom Floor was published in 1906, and Holman Hunt was published in 1908.
Passage adapted from "How Do I Love Thee," from Sonnets from the Portugese (1850).
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