Sidney and Spenser's Sonnets

What is the basic form of a sonnet?

• fourteen lines

• eight lines

• twelve lines

• six lines plus a rhyming sestet

In Spenser’s Sonnet 1, the speaker says the pages in his love’s hands are “Like captives trembling at the victor’s sight.” What theme does this line support?

• The speaker’s poem is not worthy of his love.

• The speaker is a hopeless captive at the mercy of his love.

• The speaker’s beloved is cruel to treat him the way she does.

• The speaker’s beloved is a better poet than he is.

In Spenser’s Sonnet 75, the speaker writes his love’s name in the sand. What is his main message to his love in this poem?

• He will love her forever.

• His poem will make their love immortal.

• Their love has survived great suffering.

• The pleasures of love end with death.

What are the “leaves” in these lines from Spenser’s Sonnet 1?

Happy ye leaves when as those lily hands, / Which hold my life in their dead doing might, / Shall handle you. . . .

• tree leaves the woman is holding

• the woman’s hair

• the pages containing the speaker’s poems

• the speaker’s hands

These lines are from Spenser’s Sonnet 1:

When ye behold that angel’s blessed look, / My soul’s long lacked food, my heaven’s bliss.

Restating this thought in a simpler way is an example of what?

• predicting

• inferring

• paraphrasing

• summarizing

Which is the best paraphrase of this line from Spenser’s Sonnet 35?

All this world’s glory seemeth vain to me. . .

• The things the world considers great in life seem meaningless to me.

• The world is a great place to live.

• I have not received the glory and honor I have earned.

• The wonders of this world are too great to enjoy in a short life.

In Sidney’s Sonnet 31, the speaker addresses the moon. In Sonnet 39, the speaker talks about sleep. What theme do both of these sonnets share?

• the sorrow of being alone

• the hopelessness of love

• human suffering

• the fulfillment of love

In Sidney’s Sonnet 31, what does the moon symbolize?

• lost chances

• natural beauty

• all life on earth

• his feelings

In Sidney’s Sonnet 39, the speaker asks sleep to “make in me those civil wars to cease.” What does he mean by “civil wars”?

• a quarrel between the speaker and Stella

• the speaker’s anger toward society

• the war going on in England between the common people and the king

• the conflict and despair he feels because of his love for Stella

In Sidney’s Sonnet 31, the speaker addresses the moon. In Sonnet 39, the speaker addresses sleep. What characteristic of a sonnet sequence do these two poems display?

• Each poem leaves the love unfulfilled.

• Each poem uses the heavens symbolically.

• Each poem presents realistic people who share their feelings.

• Each poem presents a speaker who is not sure if he is in love.