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The History Of Mothers Of Sons

By Lisa Furmanski

All sons sleep next to mothers, then alone, then with others
Eventually, all our sons bare molars, incisors
Meanwhile, mothers are wingless things in a room of stairs
A gymnasium of bars and ropes, small arms hauling self over self
 
Mothers hum nonsense, driving here
and there (Here! There!) in hollow steeds, mothers reflecting
how faint reflections shiver over the road
All the deafening musts along the way
 
Mothers favor the moon—hook-hung and mirroring the sun—
there, in a berry bramble, calm as a stone
 
This is enough to wrench our hand out of his
and simply devour him, though he exceeds even the tallest grass
 
Every mother recalls a lullaby, and the elegy blowing through it

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Famous-Poems-quiz

Famous Poems: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date." 

- What is the title of this poem?

2 / 20

"I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother."

- What is the next line of this poem by Langston Hughes?

3 / 20

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a famous poem by T.S. Eliot. What is the next line of this poem after "Do I dare / Disturb the universe?"?

4 / 20

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: 

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 

And summer's lease hath all too short a date."

 

 - Who is the author of this poem?

5 / 20

"Two roads diverged in a wood, 

and I - I took the one less travelled by, 

And that has made all the difference." 

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

6 / 20

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 

But I have promises to keep, 

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep." 

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

7 / 20

"The Second Coming" is a famous poem by William Butler Yeats. What is the next line of this poem after "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold"?

8 / 20

"I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong."

- Who is the author of this poem?

9 / 20

"Oh, my luve is like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June: Oh, my luve is like the melodie, That's sweetly play'd in tune."

- What is the title of this poem?

10 / 20

"Sonnet 29" is a famous sonnet by William Shakespeare. What is the next line of this poem after "When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,"?

11 / 20

"Because I could not stop for Death – 

He kindly stopped for me – 

The Carriage held but just Ourselves – 

And Immortality." 

 

- What is the title of this poem?

 

 - Who is the author of this poem?

12 / 20

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" is a famous sonnet by William Shakespeare. What is the next line of this poem after "Thou art more lovely and more temperate:"?

13 / 20

"Because I could not stop for Death, 

He kindly stopped for me; 

The carriage held but just ourselves, 

And Immortality."

 

- What is the title of this poem?

14 / 20

"I am the master of my fate, 

I am the captain of my soul." 

 

- What is the title of this poem?

15 / 20

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach."

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

16 / 20

This coyness, lady, were no crime. 

We would sit down, 

and think which way To walk, 

and pass our long love's day."

 

- What is the title of this poem?

17 / 20

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." 

 

- What is the title of this poem?

18 / 20

"Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night;"

- What is the next line of this poem by William Blake?

19 / 20

"The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"

- Who is the author of this poem?

20 / 20

"Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all." 

- Who is the author of this poem?

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Forms-Of-Poetry-Quiz

Forms Of Poetry: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a series of unrhymed tercets followed by a quatrain, with the same end words used throughout the poem in a specific pattern?

2 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by six sestets and a final tercet, with a complex pattern of repeating end words?

3 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of four-line stanzas, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB, typically used to express love or praise?

4 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a series of eight-line stanzas, with a rhyme scheme of A-B-A-B-B-C-B-C?

5 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a poem with three stanzas of three lines each, followed by a single four-line stanza, with a specific rhyme scheme and syllable count?

6 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by three stanzas of three lines each and a final quatrain?

7 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a six-line stanza, with a rhyme scheme of A-A-B-B-C-C and a syllable count of 8-8-5-5-8-8?

8 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables?

9 / 20

Which of the following is NOT a form of Japanese poetry?

10 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms consists of a three-line stanza, with a syllable count of 5-7-5, but also includes a two-line stanza at the end, with a syllable count of 7-7?

11 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a single line, typically with a specific syllable count or word limit, and often used to convey a strong emotion or idea?

12 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a five-line stanza with a syllable count of 2-4-6-8-2, and typically contains a humorous or witty twist at the end?

13 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the first letter of each line spells out a word or phrase?

14 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a repeated refrain, alternating with a series of quatrains, with a final quatrain as a coda?

15 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a poem that tells a story through a series of quatrains, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB?

16 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which a single poem is created by combining lines from multiple different poems, typically by different authors?

17 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms originated in Italy?

18 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by three-line stanzas, with the second line repeating as the last line of the previous stanza?

19 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms originated in ancient Greece and typically consists of a long narrative poem about heroic deeds?

20 / 20

What is the name for a poetic form consisting of 14 lines with a specific rhyme scheme and meter?

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