The Snowstorm

By James Thomson

Through the hushed air the whitening shower descends,
At first thin wavering; till at last the flakes
Fall broad and wide and fast, dimming the day,
With a continual flow. The cherished fields
Put on their winter robe of purest white.
‘T is brightness all: save where the new snow melts
Along the mazy current.
Low the woods
Bow their hoar head; and ere the languid sun
Faint from the west emits its evening ray,
Earth’s universal face, deep-hid and chill,
Is one wild dazzling waste, that buries wide
The works of man.
Drooping, the laborer ox
Stands covered o’er with snow, and then demands
The fruit of all his toil. The fowls of heaven,
Tamed by the cruel season, crowd around
The winnowing store, and claim the little boon
Which Providence assigns them.
One alone,
The Redbreast, sacred to the household gods,
Wisely regardful of the embroiling sky,
In joyless fields and thorny thickets leaves
His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man
His annual visit.
Half-afraid, he first
Against the window beats; then, brisk, alights
On the warm hearth; then, hopping o’er the floor,
Eyes all the smiling family askance,
And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is;
Till, more familiar grown, the table crumbs
Attract his slender feet.
The foodless wilds
Pour forth their brown inhabitants. The hare,
Though timorous of heart, and hard beset
By death in various forms, dark snares and dogs,
And more unpitying men, the garden seeks,
Urged on by fearless want. The bleating kind.
Eye the bleak heaven, and next the glistening earth,
With looks of dumb despair; then, sad dispersed,
Dig for the withered herb through heaps of snow
Now, shepherds, to your helpless charge be kind,
Baffle the raging year, and fill their pens
With food at will; lodge them below the storm,
And watch them strict; for from the bellowing east,
In this dire season, oft the whirlwind’s wing
Sweeps up the burden of whole wintry plains
In one wide waft, and o’er the hapless flocks,
Hid in the hollow of two neighboring hills,
The billowy tempest ‘whelms; till, upward urged,
The valley to a shining mountain swells,
Tipped with a wreath high-curling in the sky

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Famous-Poems-quiz

Famous Poems: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

"I wandered lonely as a cloud, 

That floats on high o'er vales and hills, 

When all at once I saw a crowd, 

A host, of golden daffodils."

 

 - What is the title of this poem?

2 / 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?

3 / 20

"The Sun Rising" is a famous poem by John Donne. What is the next line of this poem after "Busy old fool, unruly Sun, / Why dost thou thus"?

4 / 20

"The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on."

- Who is the author of this poem?

5 / 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?

6 / 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?

7 / 20

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

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

8 / 20

"For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, 

They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude." 

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

9 / 20

"Still I Rise" is a famous poem by Maya Angelou. What is the next line of this poem after "You may shoot me with your words"?

10 / 20

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by,"

- What is the next line of this poem by Robert Frost?

11 / 20

"A Contribution to Statistics" is a famous poem by Wislawa Szymborska. What is the next line of this poem after "Out of a hundred people"?

12 / 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?

13 / 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?

14 / 20

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul."

 - What is the title of this poem?

15 / 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?

16 / 20

"O Captain! My Captain! 

our fearful trip is done, 

The ship has weathered every rack, 

the prize we sought is won."

 

 - Who is the author of this poem?

17 / 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?

18 / 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,"?

19 / 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?

20 / 20

"Water, water, everywhere, 

And all the boards did shrink; 

Water, water, everywhere, 

Nor any drop to drink."

 

 - What is the title 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 that uses the repetition of a single word or phrase at the end of each line, and can be as short as three lines or as long as multiple stanzas?

2 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form that originated in ancient Arabic poetry, consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, typically used to express love or melancholy?

3 / 20

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

4 / 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?

5 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter are followed by a rhyming line of iambic tetrameter?

6 / 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?

7 / 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?

8 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms consists of a series of six-line stanzas, with a specific rhyme scheme and the repetition of certain end words throughout the poem?

9 / 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?

10 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the last word of each line is repeated throughout the poem?

11 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of two lines, with the first line asking a question and the second line providing an answer?

12 / 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?

13 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the poem's shape on the page reflects its subject matter?

14 / 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?

15 / 20

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

16 / 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?

17 / 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?

18 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which a speaker addresses someone or something that is absent or not able to respond?

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

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