Spenserian Sonnet Quiz and Answers

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1. Which of the following is the poet's purpose in writing Sonnet 1?
a. to pay personal homage to the Muses
b. to implore his words to please his beloved
c. to give human qualities to leaves, lines, and rhymes
d. to persuade his beloved to come to him

2. Which of the following best describes the meaning conveyed by the following lines from Sonnet 1?
Leaves, lines, and rhymes, seek her to please alone, /Whom if ye please, I care for other none.
a. If she likes the poem, then I shall write another
b. I don't care if anyone else likes the poem if she is pleased by it
c. If the poem pleases her, then I shall never love another woman
d. I try to please her, since I love only her

3. The image of pages "...in love's soft bands, / Like captives trembling at the victor's sight" from Sonnet 1 reinforces the theme that
a. his poetry is not worthy of her
b. his beloved has won the argument between them
c. his beloved is cruel.
d. like the pages, he too is a hopeless captive at the mercy of his beloved

4. In Sonnet 1, the images of "that angel's blessed look, / My soul's long lacked food, my heaven's bliss" are a reflection of
a. the poet's belief about his beloved
b. the exaggerated imagery in love poetry of the time
c. the poet's wish to sound "poetic"
d. iambic pentameter in a sonnet

5. The message that the speaker of Sonnet 75 wishes to convey to his love is that
a. he will love her for eternity
b. his verse will immortalize their love
c. the pleasure of love is worth suffering
d. the pleasures of love must end with death

Poet is not necessarily the speaker
Highlight for answers:
1. The poet’s purpose in writing “Sonnet 1” is to implore his words to please his beloved. This is true because Spenser says that his “leaves, lines, and rhymes” will please the person who is reading his works. Spenser is not trying to pay homage to the Muses because he only references their place of origin once. Spenser never gives human qualities to leaves, lines, and rhymes; instead, he only calls his papers, lines of his poem, and rhymes that, respectively, so as to make it more figurative. Spenser does not need to persuade his beloved to come to him because he already has her, as evident in “I care for other none.”

2. The lines from “Sonnet 1” mean that the speaker doesn’t care if anyone else likes the poem if his subject is pleased by it. This is true because the poem is written specifically for the subject because it says, “seek her to please alone.” “I care for other none” also justifies that the speaker only cares for the subject’s opinion. Spenser does not mention writing another sonnet for the subject. Spenser never talks about another woman. The last choice is a literal translation of the poem. However, it does not work because Spenser specifically says that he does not care if no one else other than the subject likes the poem.

3. The image of pages reinforces the theme that his beloved has won the argument between them. This is true because Spenser is in unison to his lover and that Spenser is humbled by her. Spenser believes his writing is worthy of her because he wouldn’t be writing to her if he didn’t think that it was worthy of her. Spenser would not write to someone who is cruel to him, or someone who treats him like a captive.

4. The images are a reflection of iambic pentameter in a sonnet. This is because “that˘ an/gel’s˘ bles/sed˘ look,/ My˘ soul’s/ long˘ last/ed˘ food,/ my˘ hea/ven’s˘ bliss/.” The writing follows a natural meter of unstressed and then stressed. This line may be considered to be the speaker’s belief about his beloved; however, that is not true because it is talked about the beloved’s characteristics and not her love for the speaker. No poet tries to sound “poetic”; they do so on their own.

5. The message that the speaker of Sonnet 75 wishes to convey to his love is that the pleasure of love is worth its suffering. This is true because no matter how many times the speaker writes the name of his lover in the sand, he still loves her even after the tide washes it away. The speaker says that everyone dies, but love lives on forever. The speaker may love her for eternity, but the battle for love is what makes the result worthy. His verse will immortalize their love because words represent their love. Love does not end with death, so the last answer is not true.