STAAR Poetry Practice

Using the poem “Sonnet for Morning,” answer the following questions:

What inference can the reader make about the speaker in this poem?

• The speaker is impatient.

• The speaker finds darkness refreshing.

• The speaker prefers daytime to night.

• The speaker often watches the sunrise in the morning.

Read this stanza from “Sonnet for Morning.”

Awaking in the dark to watch day start,

I bring a blanket out to watch the skies.

Though sleepy, I delight in nature’s art,

So I will wait and relish this sunrise.

How does the poem’s form affect meaning in this stanza?

• The rhyming 2nd and 4th lines focus attention on the colors in the sky at sunrise.

• “Skies” and “sunrise” rhyme and inform readers that the sun rises in the sky.

• The lines that rhyme contrast the darkness of night with the lightness of dawn.

• “Day start” and “nature’s art” rhyme and suggest to readers that morning is beautiful.

In line 4 of this poem, the word “relish” means-

• resent

• enjoy in full

• remember

• be frightened by

In this poem, the last 2 lines are indented because they-

• speak to the reader directly

• do not end with rhyming words

• begin discussing a new subject

• say the opposite of the rest of the poem

The speaker’s use of sensory language in lines 9-12 is intended to

• motivate the reader to never oversleep

• inspire the reader to work hard all day

• compare the morning to spring

• allow the reader to experience the smell of morning as the speaker does

The setting established in stanza 1 allows the speaker to-

• experience the sunrise in its entirety

• experience the sunrise from his bed

• experience vivid dreams

• dream about the future

Stanza 2 of the poem describes

• spring

• the sunrise

• the sounds of the city

• the speaker welcoming the morning

The speaker probably wrote this poem to-

• share with the reader an enjoyable part of his day

• encourage people to never sleep late

• highlight the reasons it is important to be an early riser

• illustrate the how to be in a good mood

The speaker's use of personifiation in lines 7-8

• reveals the danger of the sun

• explains the rotation of the sun

• highlights the morning sunlight's power

• describes the bustle of the city at sunrise

Another name for this poem could be

• Morning Never Comes at Night

• Greeting the Morning

• Sunshine in the City

• Dancing in the Morning Sunlight