Dr. Prinsky

English 3002: Renaissance to Restoration

Quiz on Ben Jonson's Poetry and Robert Herrick’s Poetry

(abbreviations: NNERL = Norm’s Notes on English Renaissance Literature; PNQ = Prinsky’s Notes and Questions [on an Author])

Ben Jonson

1. As suggested in the PNQ on Ben Jonson’s poetry, the selections in NAEL may be divided into how many groups: (a) four (b) five (c) six (d) seven (e) eight

2. As pointed out in the introduction (and selections) in NAEL as well as in PDLT or HTL, one vital Renaissance poetic genre used by Ben Jonson -- usually not as appreciated by the modern reader as in earlier eras -- is: (a) epigram (b) sonnet (c) love lyric (d) carmen figuratum

3. As noted in NAEL and PDLT/HTL, the genre referred to in the immediately preceding question was perfected, as Jonson knew, by the ancient Roman poet: (a) Vergil (b) Martial (c) Propertius (d) Tibullus

4. The majority of Jonson's poems, as indicated in the selections in NAEL and as pointed out in class and in NNERL (Norm's Notes on English Renaissance Literature), are written in the verse form of: (a) Spenserian stanzas (b) rhymed couplets (c) free verse (d) chant royal

5. As noted in class, the poetic “school” of Jonson, more than the “school” of Donne, helps lead to the poetry of: (a) John Dryden (b) William Wordsworth (c) Alfred, Lord Tennyson (d) Gerard Manley Hopkins

6. Though in rhymed couplets, not the traditional rhyme scheme of the form or genre, the poems “To My Book” and “To William Camden” are also: (a) ballads (b) odes (c) sonnets (d) villanelles

7. The use of the form noted in the immediately preceding question is to suggest the ideas of all of the following except which one: (a) perfection (b) epitome (c) artfulness (d) religiosity

8. As pointed out in NNERL and indicated in the selections in NAEL, Jonson's poetry has fewer pyrotechnics than Donne's but is more: (a) judgmental (b) colloquial (c) dramatic (d) Baroque

9. Components of Jonson’s poetic style contributing to the quality of what is referred to in the immediately preceding question are all of the following except which one: (a) balance (b) antithesis (c) parataxis (d) epanorthosis

10. Jonson's poems "On My First Daughter," "On My First Son," and ". . . On S.P. [Solomon Pavy], a Child of Queen Elizabeth's Chapel," all discuss the child's: (a) certainty of great career (b) touchingly premature death (c) impressive Classical education (d) own future trials as a parent

11. Jonson's literary criticism (represented in prose by his Timber or Discoveries, a brief excerpt of which is included in NAEL) is demonstrated in his poems explicitly dealing with which two English Renaissance poets: (a) Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey (b) Samuel Daniel and Michael Drayton (c) William Shakespeare and John Donne (d) Thomas Campion and Edmund Waller

12. A dominant rhetorical figure of “To My Book,” with which the poem begins, is: (a) paradox (b) metonymy (c) hyperbole (d) apostrophe

13. The rhetorical figure referred to in the immediately preceding question helps convey the idea in the poem of a view or mentality that is: (a) ”us-against-them” (b) “avoidance of false modesty” (c) “being a team player” (d) “going along to get along”

14. The answer to the poem's riddling title (and use of indefinite pronouns) in "On Something, That Walks Somewhere" is a: (a) courtier (b) ghost (c) grammarian (d) woman

15. The use of indefinite pronouns in the poem referred to in the immediately preceding question (“something,” “it” — the latter pronoun four times in the poem’s eight lines) helps convey all the following except which one: (a) vapidness (b) vastitude (c) vacillation (d) vaporousness

16. The key word in the appositive for Camden in the first line of “To William Camden” plays on different meanings of the word referring to all of the following except which one: (a) school principal (b) leader in scholarship (c) anatomical location for learning and thought (d) rashness or audacity

17. In “On My First Daughter,” the speaker comes to terms with grief, in several senses of “come to terms,” by drawing on all the following consolations except which one: (a) human lives being lent by the deity (b) release from painful suffering in illness (c) surety of heaven because of not having sinned (d) having gone to a place transcending the quotidian

18. The oblique grammar and ellipticality of “To John Donne” help suggest: (a) that these should be ideals in Jonson’s poetry (b) Jonson’s attraction to Donne, paralleling the bisexuality shown in Jonson’s other love poetry (c) these components in the poetry of the addressee (d) Jonson’s attack on Donne in answer to Donne’s attack in the War of the Theaters

19. In its insistent repetition of the word, “On Don Surly” helps suggest a poem defining: (a) solemn or solemnity (b) great or greatness (c) aspiring or aspiration (d) dares or daring

20. A dominant rhetorical figure in "On Giles and Joan,” recurrent in the poem, is: (a) antonomasia (b) litotes (c) paradox (d) synecdoche

21. The rhetorical figure referred to in the immediately preceding question helps convey how a romantic couple can: (a) illustrate sibling rivalry (b) reverse the traditional gender roles (c) are really the same person with multiple-personality disorder (d) concur in views but hate each other

22. In “On My First Son,” the speaker comes to terms with grief, in several senses of “come to terms,” by drawing on all the following explanations or consolations except which one: (a) human lives being lent by the deity (b) release from painful suffering in illness (c) sinful parental favoritism (d) having gone to a place transcending routine troubles in life

23. The idea in “On My First Son” as a human life being a kind of literary work — a poem, a “thing made,” as Philip Sidney explains the etymology of “poet” and “poem” and Sidney’s Apology for Poetry/Defense of Poesy — also is an important element in Jonson’s poem: (a) “To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of . . . Lucius Cary and . . . H[enry] Morison” (b) “Inviting a Friend to Supper” (c) “To Penshurst” (d) “To Heaven”

24. The structure or organization of “To Lucy, Countess of Bedford, with Mr. Donne’s Satires” is: (a) circular (circle) (b) triangular (triangle) rectangular (square, rectangle) (c) hexagonal (hexagon) (d) amorphous

25. The structure referred to in the immediately preceding question helps convey the ideas of all the following except which one: (a) the Ptolemaic universe (see the diagram at the back of NAEL) (b) the global travels of the addressee (c) the addressee as center of a literary coterie (d) the speaker’s thoughts orbiting around the addressee

26. Jonson's "Inviting a Friend to Supper" portrays a situation that would, as pointed out by Robert Adams in NAEL6, scandalize a weight watcher; it would also surprise a modern dinner guest because of the host's direction for the manservant to: (a) dress the diner in silk robe and slippers (b) taste each dish first in the presence of the diners to prove its quality to them (c) read passages from the Roman writers at the dinner table (d) conduct weight-loss aerobic exercises after the meal

27. An idea conveyed by the component referred to in the immediately preceding question is: (a) relaxation through brief luxury in special circumstances (b) food for the mind as well as body (c) an adherence to the ancient motto, pertinent to physical exercise, of mens sana in corpore sano (d) copying of ancient customs of hospitality

28. Although "Inviting a Friend to Supper" suggests components of a miniaturized utopia, recognitions of negative forces from the outside world impinging on the utopia, tight-knit circle, and poem can be found in all the following except which one: (a) spying (b) monetary restraints (c) restrictions in Nature’s seasonal cycle (d) publishers’ deadlines for written work

29. Jonson's "To Penshurst" is in the genre (echoed by several other writers, as noted in PDLT and HTL) of the: (a) topographical or country house poem (b) caudated or tailed sonnet (c) pastoral elegy (d) bucolic or eclogue

30. Jonson's "To Penshurst" has symmetry through the focus at its beginning (lines 1-6) and end (lines 99-102) on the: (a) house’s grounds (b) house’s exterior (c) house’s famous architect (d) house’s interior

31. Jonson's "To Penshurst" implies endorsement of all the following values except which one: (a) celibacy (b) productivity (c) noblesse oblige (d) generosity (e) modesty

33. “To Heaven” is clearly structured or organized into two parts (lines 1-12 and 13-26) by, among other elements: (a) contrasting metaphysical conceits (b) allusions to James I (c) repetition of two rhetorical questions (d) gustatory imagery

34. The element noted in the immediately preceding question helps suggest the poem’s subgenre of: (a) pantoum (b) petition (c) pastiche (d) praise

36. According to PDLT or HTL, the pioneer of the poetry genre of Jonson's poem "To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of That Noble Pair, Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H[enry]. Morison" was: (a) Anacreon (b) Hesiod (c) Pindar (d) Theocritus

37. An important element of elegy in "To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of That Noble Pair, Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H[enry]. Morison" is the idea that a life should be evaluated by: (a) charitable work (b) productivity (c) adaptability (d) length of years

38. In “To the Memory of My Beloved . . . Shakespeare,” Jonson praises Shakespeare for all of the following except which one: (a) historical relevance (b) classical learning (c) rating against the ancient Greek and Roman dramatists (d) universality (e) combination of art and nature

39. A poem also written in praise of Shakespeare was composed (and is included in NAEL) by: (a) John Donne (b) Robert Herrick (c) Thomas Carew (d) John Milton (e) Andrew Marvell

40. A key subject of Jonson’s “Ode to Himself” is the contrast between: (a) the superficiality of drama vs. seriousness of poetry (b) compromising Anglicans vs. steadfast Catholics (c) aristocratic theatergoers vs. lowerclass theatergoers (d) foreign influences on literature vs. the native tradition

41. The extended or recurrent metaphor in stanzas 2-4 of “Ode to Himself” is comparable to its use in Jonson’s poem: (a) “To William Camden” (b) “On My First Daughter” (c) “Still to Be Neat” (d) "Inviting a Friend to Supper"

Robert Herrick

42. As indicated in PNQ, Herrick’s published oeuvre amounts to about how many poems: (a) 200 (b) 600 (c) 1000 (d) 1400

43. As indicated in PNQ, Herrick’s poetry (especially as anthologized in NAEL) can be divided into how many main categories: (a) three (b) five (c) seven (d) nine

45. As clear from the NAEL selections, Herrick has a definite preference for which one of the following line lengths: (a) tetrasyllabic (b) octosyllabic (c) decasyllabic (d) hendecasyllabic

46. As pointed out in PDLT/HTL and anthologized in NAEL, Herrick authored two of the supreme examples of which poetic genre: (a) epyllion (b) sestina (c) pruning poem (d) carpe diem

47. As pointed out in NNERL and clear from the NAEL selections, many of Herrick's poems fall in the genre of: (a) beast fable (b) pastoral (c) villanelle (d) nonsense verse

48. As pointed out in NNERL and clear from the NAEL selections, several of Herrick's poems blend aestheticism (concerns about principles of art) and: (a) the erotic (b) royalist politics (c) Catholic religion (d) interest in the new sciences

49. “The Argument of His Book,” “Upon the Loss of His Mistresses,” “Delight in Disorder,” and “The Bad Season Makes the Poet Sad” could all be categorized as unusual: (a) epithalamiums (b) georgics (c) rondeaux (d) sonnets

50. The form referred to in the immediately preceding question helps lend the ideas to “The Argument of His Book” of all the following except which one: (a) perfection (b) microcosm (c) art or artifice (d) pastoralism

51. The line length of “Upon the Loss of His Mistresses” (evident in its visual appearance on the page) is appropriate to the idea of: (a) contention (b) contraction (c) collision (d) compulsion

52. The metapoetic dimension of “Upon the Loss of His Mistresses” is expressed partly in the pun on “number” (line 13) as: (a) record in poetic meter (b) calculate in political gain or loss (c) fix a limit to something (d) determine exact quantities

53. The length of the poem “Dreams”: (a) accords with the amplitude of the subject (b) accords with the lengths of most Biblical psalms (c) contrasts paradoxically with the subject’s scope (d) contrasts with Herrick’s occupation prior to Anglican minister

54. The rhyme scheme of the poem “Dreams” helps convey the idea of contrasting: (a) male vs. female (b) dreamer vs. doer (c) active vs. passive (d) unity vs. separateness

55. “Delight in Disorder” conveys the idea of an interrelation among all of the following except which one: (a) clothing (b) scholarliness (c) sexuality (d) art or artifice (e) politics or religion

56. A key figure of speech to help convey aesthetic ideas in “Delight in Disorder” is: (a) apostrophe (b) hyperbole (c) metonymy (d) oxymoron

57. A famous Latin adage embodied in “Delight in Disorder” is: (a) ars artium omnium conservatrix (b) ars celare artem (c) ars gratia artis (d) ars longa, vita brevis (e) de gustibus non disputandem (est)

58. A Renaissance Italian principle of art (enunciated in Baldassare Castiglione’s The Courtier; see the Thomas Hoby translation included in NAEL) that is embodied in “Delight in Disorder” and many poems of the group of which Herrick was a part is: (a) sprezzatura (b) pietra dura (c) impasto (a) chiaroscuro

59. The refrain in “Corinna’s Going A-Maying” helps to convey all of the following except which one: (a) the speaker’s persuasive pressuring (b) the spring season (c) battle of the sexes (d) Freudian (sexual) symbolism

60. Because of predominant meter of “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” the line “The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun” (line 5) is meant to have how many syllables: (a) six (b) eight (c) ten (d) twelve

61. “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” draws on all the following contrasts or oppositions except which one: (a) motion vs. immobility (b) light vs. darkness (c) heat vs. cold (d) contemporary vs. classical

62. The principle of aesthetics implied by “Upon the Nipples of Julia’s Breast,” “Upon Julia’s Clothes,” and “Upon Prue, His Maid” is that: (a) the container (form) is as important as the content (b) the artist should be self-effacing with regard to his art (c) the work should possess some challenging difficulty (d) art should strive for freedom from sexual overtones

63. “Upon the Nipples of Julia’s Breast” strongly appeals to all the following kinds of imagery except which one: (a) visual (b) auditory (c) tactile (d) olfactory (e) gustatory

64. In “Upon Jack and Jill. Epigram,” the attitude toward literature and art is generally: (a) favorable (b) neutral (c) negative (d) apathetic

65. As implied by “His Prayer to Ben Jonson,” one of the principal components that Herrick and his group strove for is: (a) smoothness (b) complexity (c) cautiousness (d) solemnity

66. “The Bad Season Makes the Poet Sad” has a political theme linking it with all of the following except which one: (a) Philip Sidney’s reference to the occupation of poet as “unelected vocation” in Apology for Poetry/Defense of Poesy (b) Wagner’s encounter with the two scholars in Scene 2 of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus (c) the punning on “coat,” “reformation,” “reformed” in Scene 2 (lines 29-32) of Ben Jonson’s Volpone (d) John Suckling’s ”Song: ‘Why so pale and wan’” (e) Richard Lovelace’s poem “The Grasshopper”

67. A key metaphor with metapoetic or aesthetic implications in Herrick’s “Upon His Verses” connects most clearly with a similar striking metaphor (and conception) in Ben Jonson’s poem: (a) “To John Donne” (b) ”Upon His First Son” (c) “Inviting a Friend to Supper” (d) “Ode to Himself”

68. To help create a the voice of a child (and implications about childhood) and the sound of prayer (or chanting) in “Another Grace for a Child,” Herrick uses all of the following except which one: (a) trochaic rhythm (b) short (seven-syllable) lines (c) monosyllables (d) monometer