DIRECTIONSCarefully read the following passage. Use context clues to help define any words with which you are unfamiliar. Pay close attention to the use of figurative language, argument, and tone. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow.
Sonnet 97 by William Shakespeare
How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!
What old December’s bareness every where!
And yet this time remov’d was summer’s time,
The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burthen of the prime,
Like widowed wombs after their lords’ decease:
Yet this abundant issue seem’d to me
But hope of orphans and unfathered fruit,
For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,
And thou away, the very birds are mute;
Or if they sing, ’tis with so dull a cheer
That leaves look pale, dreading the winter’s near.
6big:pregnant
7 wanton burthen of the prime:crops planted in the spring.
A Valediction: Of Weeping by John Donne
Let me pour forth
My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here,
For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear,
And by this mintage they are something worth,
For thus they be
Pregnant of thee;
Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more,
When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore,
So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore.
On a round ball
A workman that hath copies by, can lay
An Europe, Afric, and an Asia,
And quickly make that, which was nothing, all,
So doth each tear,
Which thee doth wear,
A globe, yea world by that impression grow,
Till thy tears mixed with mine do overflow
This world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolved so.
O more than moon,
Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere,
Weep me not dead, in thine arms, but forbear
To teach the sea, what it may do too soon;
Let not the wind
Example find,
To do me more harm, than it purposeth;
Since thou and I sigh one another’s breath,
Whoe’er sighs most, is cruellest, and hastes the other’s death.
3coins them:is reflected in them
8 that thou falls which it bore: The image of the beloved is lost with each falling tear
11 workman: mapmaker, artist
COMPREHENSION
DirectionsAnswer these questions about “Sonnet 97.”
1.The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is
Aabab bcbc cdcd ee
Baabb ccdd eeff gg
Cabab cdcd efef gg
Dabba cddc acca ee
2.Which statement best summarizes the first quatrain?
AAn entire year has passed while two loved ones are separated.
BThe years go by quickly for two loved ones waiting to be reunited.
CRemembering the summer is the best way to spend the lonely winter.
DBeing away from a loved one feels like a bleak winter.
3.By personifying “old December” in the first quatrain, which feeling does the speaker convey?
Apleasure
Bweariness
Cemptiness
Danxiety
4.What information does the speaker reveal in the second quatrain?
AThe time is late summer or early autumn, when crops are ready for harvesting.
BAlthough it is now almost autumn, the speaker still misses the loved one who is away.
CIt is much easier to be apart during the summer when food and sun are plentiful.
DThe loved ones’ separation will end when summer arrives.
5.Which season is personified as a mother ready to give birth?
Awinter
Bspring
Csummer
Dautumn
6.Which image in the poem conveys nature’s bounty?
A“From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year” (line 2)
B“And yet this time remov’d was summer’s time” (line 5)
C“The teeming autumn, big with rich increase” (line 6)
D“And thou away, the very birds are mute” (line 12)
7.The image in lines 9–10 conveys the speaker’s feelings of
Acontentment
Bmelancholy
Cexpectation
Dshame
8.In the third quatrain, which idea is conveyed by the turn, or shift in thought?
AThe lovers’ unhappy separation is reflected in the hot summer weather.
BThe speaker cannot experience summer until the lovers are reunited.
CSigns of the changing seasons are visible everywhere to the speaker.
DThe season’s harvest will benefit fatherless children.
9.In the couplet, Shakespeare evokes the sights and sounds of an approaching winter to emphasize the
Aanticipation of unanswered love
Bchaos caused by the change of seasons
Cdismay over the loved one’s absence
Dunpredictability of true love
DirectionsAnswer these questions about “A Valediction: Of Weeping.”
10.The rhyme scheme in this poem is
Aababccded
Baabbbbccc
Cabcbcdefe
Dabbaccddd
11.In lines 1–9, the poet compares the speaker’s tears to
Areflections of the loved one’s face in water
Bcoins minted with the loved one’s image
Cfruits preserved as emblems of the summer
Dthe distance that will separate the lovers
12.Which statement best summarizes lines 7–9?
AThe speaker dreads being separated from the lover.
BTears are meaningless to two people who are truly in love.
CDistance will help the lovers overcome their unhappiness.
DThe lovers do not recognize the significance of their separation.
13.Which end rhyme is a slant rhyme?
Aforth, worth
Bbe, thee
Cmore, bore
Dgrow, so
14.In lines 10–16, the poet develops the metaphysical conceit by comparing a tear to a
Amap worn by the beloved
Bworkman’s fine art
Cglobe of the world
Dportrait of the beloved
15.In lines 19–22, the beloved’s power to cause weeping is compared to the moon’s power to
Ailluminate the night sky
Breflect off the surface of water
Crepresent universal mystery
Dcontrol the tides of the sea
16.In each stanza, Donne consistently uses exact rhymes in the
Afirst four lines
Blast three lines
Cfifth and sixth lines
Dfirst and third lines
17.The pain of separation described in “A Valediction: Of Weeping” differs from that described in “Sonnet 97” in that it is
Aanticipated rather than experienced
Bexpected to last forever
Cbrought on by astonishing events
Demotional rather than analytical
WRITTEN RESPONSE
Short Response Write three or four sentences to answer each question.
18.In the couplet of Sonnet 97, what human emotion is attributed to the leaves? What does this image suggest about the speaker’s feelings?
19.As he develops a metaphysical conceit in A Valediction: Of Weeping, Donne likens tears to several physical objects. Name three of these objects and explain what quality they have in common.
Extended ResponseWrite two or three paragraphs to answer this question.
20.Compare both poets’ use of nature imagery to express feelings about separation. In your answer, include two examples of nature imagery from each poem.