QUESTIONS ON THE POEMS
The Parrot.
1. Quote details of the contrasts made between (a) Mull
and America, (b) the parrot on its arrival and later.
2. How is the bird treated by the poet as a human being ?
3. Tell any similar anecdote, preferably in verse, about a
parrot or any other pet.
She walks in beauty.
1. Whence does Byron draw the similes in this poem?
To what poet's influence would you attribute this ?
2. Collect details that bring out the contrast.
To Night.
1. Illustrate from this poem Shelley's (a) love of Nature,
(b) abstract description.
2. Write a note on Shelley's use of personification.
3. Comment on Shelley's vowel-music and his use of
liquid-consonants^/, m, n, r,), the movement of his verse,
and his use of alliteration and figures of speech.
4. " Shelley's proper sphere was music." Does this
poem bear out the criticism ?
5. Compare this poem with a poem by Scott or Byron.
What quality do you find lacking in Shelley or in the other
poet you have compared with him ?
The Human Seasons.
1. Comment on the form of this sonnet. Compare its
form with that of the following sonnet (p. 116).
2. Which season did Keats favour ? Contrast the
view of autumn given here with those given in " Autumn SJ
(p. 117) and in " La Belle Dame sans Merci." (p. 12).
3. What famous passage in Shakespeare deals with the
same subject—the stages of man's life? Compare and
contrast the two.
On fast Looking into Chapman9s Homer.
1. What is the most effective phrase in the poem ?
2. Write a short appreciation of the two similes used in
the sonnet.
3. Write a paragraph on the book or poem that has most
affected you in a similar way.
Autumn.
i. Does Keats give a full and true picture of autumn ?
Compare his description with that given in (a) Clare's
225 Q,