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Storgy

Quiz — Storgy

The Nightingale.

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Ten questions on craft, meaning, and form. Untimed. Answer every question to submit.

Q01of 10

The subtitle 'A Conversation Poem, April, 1798' signals that this work belongs to a loose genre Coleridge helped define. What is the primary structural characteristic of this genre?

Q02of 10

In lines 13–22, Coleridge disputes the label 'most musical, most melancholy' for the nightingale. What does he argue is the true source of that melancholy label?

Q03of 10

The phrase 'Surrendering his whole spirit' (line 29) describes what Coleridge believes a true poet should do. What activity is the poet advised to abandon in order to do this?

Q04of 10

How does Coleridge use the neglected castle and its overgrown grove (lines 49–54) as an image within the poem?

Q05of 10

What literary allusion is embedded in the reference to 'Philomela's pity-pleading strains' (line 39)?

Q06of 10

What is the dominant tone of the second half of the poem (lines 40–110), in contrast to the more argumentative opening?

Q07of 10

The simile comparing the nightingale on a swinging twig to 'tipsy Joy that reels with tossing head' (line 86) is an example of which poetic technique?

Q08of 10

Who are the 'My Friend, and thou, our Sister' (line 40) addressed in the poem, according to the biographical context of its composition in April 1798?

Q09of 10

At the poem's close, Coleridge describes hurrying his infant son outside during a distressful night. What soothes the child?

Q10of 10

What overarching theme does the episode of the infant son most directly reinforce at the poem's conclusion?

0 / 10 answered

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