Early Romantic Poets

At the beginning of "The Chambered Nautilus," the shell

• is in the water

• is stuck to a reef

• has broken open

• has an animal in it

How does the shell get its shape in "The Chambered Nautilus"?

• The animal creates a new cavity as it grows.

• The shell attaches itself to a circular coral reef.

• Waves toss the shell until it has a circular shape.

• The animal eats other fish and steals their shells

Consider the line, "Year after year beheld the silent toil" —the meter of this line most likely stresses the

• challenges of living near the ocean

• time it takes to find a shell on the beach

• difficult and repetitive process of living

• length of time the speaker looked at the shell

What inference can you make from these lines: "Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee/Child of the wandering sea" ?

• Children should wander near the sea to hear heavenly messages.

• A small object can sometimes communicate a great deal of meaning.

• People would hear the gods better if the gods made horns from seashells.

• The gods send messages to people best through small things from the sea.

What is most likely the main message of the final stanza of "The Chambered Nautilus"?

• Continue moving through trials until it is time for you to die.

• Build a larger and more wonderful palace for yourself.

• The best way to find heaven is to build a noble temple.

• Expand the capacity of your soul throughout your life.

What can you infer about "Old Ironsides" by the description in the first stanza?

• Old Ironsides is a battleship.

• Bells line Old Ironsides' sides.

• Old Ironsides has cannon holes.

• People danced on Old Ironsides.

Consider these lines from the first stanza of "Old Ironsides."

"Beneath it rung the battle shout,

And burst the cannon's roar;—"

The meter stresses the words shout, burst, and roar because

• the ocean is making noise around the ship

• the sounds are important to the ship's history

• the speaker is shouting the words of the poem

• there is silence around the speaker on the boat

From the second and third stanza you can infer that the speaker believes that

• Old Ironsides deserves to live at the shore

• a museum is the correct place for the boat

• eagles that fly near the sea are a nuisance

• saving the ship from destruction is patriotic

What do both poems that we read by Oliver Wendell Holmes use the sea to represent?

• the will of higher powers

• the enemies in your life

• the challenges of life

• eventual death of creatures

The meter in both poems conveys/reflects/echoes Holmes's message because

• unstressed syllables create a vague pattern

• stressed words highlight important ideas

• a repetitive metrical pattern stresses change

• iambs represent life's natural flow