POETRY Edwin Arlington Robinson has said that poetry is ‘indefinable’ yet “eventually unmistakable.” Poetry is unmistakable in that it has always shown an unswerving fidelity to its own essential nature; it is indefinable because it has responded to unending experimentation. The poet has the exacting task of presenting life in terms of truth and beauty. To make his presentation felicitous and significant he is eternally alert to discover new forms, new means of expression. Hence the richness of our poetic heritage. To the reader imbued with the tradition of Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare, the techniques of such modern poets as Dylan Thomas or T S. Eliot are strange and baffling. If the reader will remember that only those experiments which prove to be essentially poetic will live, he can enjoy his adventures with the new poets. There is prevalent today a serious misunderstanding in regard to poetry. Archibald MacLeish realized this when he pointed out that a poem must be, not mean. A poem, in other words, is something to experience, not to explain, the poet is not trying to embellish what might be plainly stated in prose. He is saying something that cannot be said in prose at all!. The difference is not a matter of pattern or metaphor but a difference in the manner of thinking and feeling. A poet, expressing “the infinite in terms of the finite,” is thinking poetically and in symbols. We need not analyze. “My answering is still a sword against a falling sky”. We need only to realize it. We must live the poem in terms of its own manner of expression. Robert Frost has told us that a poem “begins in delight and ends in wisdom’ After the first delight of introduction, a poem leads to great conclusions. Without preaching poetry sets us face to face with life for an experience whose end is, as Frost says, wisdom. Whether we go forth at dawn with Telemachus, or stand with Dante and Vergil when they come back and raise their eyes to the stars after the descent into the Inferno, or hear the quiet voice of Wordsworth admonish us that “the world is too much with us, we grow in stature, and that growth is wisdom. Those who have already plucked the grapes from ‘The great rich vine’ of our poets tradition know the delights that await the beginner who may be equipped only with an honest heart and a willingness to like. It is pleasant to think again of reading for the first time. “Glory be to God for dappled things — For skies as couple-colored as a brinded cow,” to find the whole tossing brilliancy of Hopkins’ world — or to stand mute with Hector looking down from the walls of Troy on the noisy Greeks. To return, or to read for the first time; either is a fine experience. When the world’s tensions grew unbearable, when the forest is lost in the trees,’ when no stars shine, then from poetry, as from a secret spring, the heart may drink the living waters to return to the conflict stronger and the wiser for its refreshment. The purpose is not to escape life. The purpose is the rediscovery of significance. Presenting man in all his activities, poetry reasserts the great truth that man does not live by bread alone. (By HAROLD W. MELVFN. Good Reading, 1954 New American Library.) 1. According to the text (lines 1-6) poetry is unmistakable because it: A) has never been defined B) has never had a definite purpose C) has not swerved from its own nature D) has seldom shown fidelity to its nature E) has rarely answered to experimentation 2. The statement which contradicts the idea expressed in the text about poetry and prose is: A) Poetry and prose should be considered in terms of their particular manner of expression. B) Prose can be analyzed, but poetry must be realized C) They express two different ways of thinking and feeling. D) They are something to experience and to explain. E) They are forms of presenting life. 3. According to the text, an element that contributes to the richness of our poetic heritage’ (lines 1-6) is: a) the great number of poets with the tradition of Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare; b) the new poet, imbued with tradition, and growing in stature and wisdom; c) the poet who has always been searching for different forms of expression; d) the fact that poetry is indefinable, so it is ambiguous; e) the urderstanding that a poem must be not mean. 4. A poem “begins in deligth and ends in wisdom.” (line 20) The support for the above statement could be — A poem must consist of both: a) tradition and technique b) pattern and metaphor c) fidelity and tradition d) felicity and beauty e) truth and beauty 5. According to the last paragraph (lines 34-38), when life becomes unbearable poetry helps man to deal with it. One of the statements below does not support this idea. It is: a) Poetry may be man’s secret shelter; b) Poetry may be man’s best way to give up the world; c) From poetry man can get relief, strength and knowledge d) To face life’s problems someone has to look for inner and outer strength. e) Ore who learns to enjoy poetry will have an additional source of wisdom and beauty. 6. Presenting man in all his activities, poetry reasserts the great truth that man does not live by bread alone.” (lines 37-38) The statement which does not corroborate what was said above is: a) “We are out of contact with our own depths’ (Thomas Merton); b) ‘It’s impossible now even to imagine the levels of awareness of which men are capable. What we need are major efforts to explore inner as well as outer space.’ (Jean Houston); c) ‘When life loses its meaning and the soul is alternatives are breakdown or a fresh and perhaps deeper look at oneself and reality. (Allegra Stewart); d) ‘My share of the work may be limited, but the fact that it is work makes it precious.. The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by to aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. (Helen KelIer); e) ‘People are preoccupied with reserves of mechanical energy on the Earth. When will they realize that billions of horse power and kilowatts are nothing, physically, compared with the voltages and possibilities for transformation stored in our minds and hearts?” (Teilhard de Chardin) 7. The statements below in which the underlined words either with a cohesive function or with a specific cornrnunicative purpose is not followed by its correct meaning is a) Man does not live by bread alone. (selecting) b) Hence the richness of our poetic heritage. (cause) c) He is saying something that cannot be said in prose at all. (emphasizing) d) Edwin Arlington Robinson had said that poetry is “indefinable” yet “eventually unmistakable” (contrast / alternative) e) If the reader will remember that onlv those experiments which prove to be essentially poetic will live. (restricting) 8. The sentences below were changed from active to passive voice. One of them is not correct. lt is: a) “Some of them will pluck the grapes.” // The grapes will be plucked. b) “Poetry has always shown an unswerving fidelity.” // An unswerving fidelity had always beer shown c) “We have scrubbed the world clean of magic” // The world has been scrubbed clean of magic. d) “The willing man may drink the Iiving waters.” // The living waters may be drunk by the willing man. e) “We must live the poem in terms of its own manner of expression.” // The poem must be lived in terms of its own manner of expression. 9. The alternative which contains an adjective in the sarne degree as “stronger’ (line 36) is: a) Things are worse than they used to be. b) She would rather stay here than go out. c) My father was a most extraordinary man. d) These cakes are probably the best in the city. e) His room was in such a litter that he was ashamed to ask me in. 10. In one of the alternatives below “much” cannot be used. It is: a) She has not invited _____ people to her party. b) There was not _____ dirt in this room. c) The children don’t make _____ noise. d) He has not seen _____ of her beauty. e) They haven’t done _____. 11. The alternative in which the verb tense is incorrectly used is: a) I’m meeting Albert tonight. He’s taking me to the movies b) All the streets in this part of the City looked alike. c) Don’t you feel the house shaking? d) When I arrived she has just left. e) I hear approaching feet. 12. The alternative which is not correct is: a) “either” (line 32) means anyone of two bread; b) “willingness” (line 28) means good will; c) “pleasant” (line 28) means enjoyable; d) “matter” (line 14) means affair; e) “task” (line 4) means talent. 13. In one of the statements below the verb was wrongly used. It is: a) The sun rises in the east. b) Please, don’t raise the curtain. c) He always Iays his books on that table. d) I heard that the stock market is raising. e) The old woman used to lie awake at night. 14. “The poet is not trying to embellish what might be stated in prose.” (line 13) Might is used here to express: a) assumptions about present or past actions b) possibility in the present or future c) speculations about past actions. d) uncertainty about the past. e) necessity of an action. 15. “A poem leads to great conclusions.” (line 21) The question to which the sentence below could be the answer is: a) What leads to great conclusions? b) How does a poem lead to conclusions? c) Whose poem leads to great conclusions? d) Where does a poem lead to conclusions? e) Why does a poem lead to great conclusions ? 16. The sentence in which the underlined expression does not have the meaning given in parentheses is: a) Please think over what I’ve said (consider); b) William will bear out your theory (confirm); c) He couldn’t keep down his anger (maintain); d) This idea seems good but it needs to be tried out (tested); e) The dog went for the postman as soon as he opened the garden gate (attacked). 17. One of the alternatives below the underlined word is not an adverb. This one is: a) Go easv on the wine – it’s the last bottle. b) It was raining fast when I met her. c) Put the vase right in the middle. d) I went to bed late yesterday. e) She was ill for a long time. 18. The alternative in which the underlined adverb is misplaced is: a) The rain rather spoiled our holiday b) He is usually at home in the evening c) You often have been told not to be late. d) Hardly had they entered the house when the lights went out. e) So suspicious did she become that she began to watch him out. 19. Would you mind _____ the door ? a) to close b) closing c) to closing d) close e) not close 20. Choose the right alternative: a) What do you want that I do for you ? b) What do you want me to do you ? c) What do you want me to make to you ? d) What do you want me to do ? e) What do you want I make for you ? GABARITO: 1) C 2) D 3) C 4) E 5) B 6) D 7) A 8) B 9) A 10) A 11) D 12) E 13) D 14) B 15) A 16) C 17) E 18) C 19) B 20) D
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 13:24:59 +0000
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