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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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

• lost chances

• natural beauty

• all life on earth

• his feelings

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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

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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.

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