Practice for the Common Assessment
Read the following poem and answer the related questions.
Annabel Lee
BYEDGAR ALLAN POE
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
Iwas a child andshewas a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted* her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen* came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
*Coveted – were jealous
*Kinsmen - relatives
A. “It was many and many a year ago” / B. “So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me”
C. “Iwas a child andshewas a child” / D. “And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes”
_____2. / The theme of the poem is:
A. Love is a beautiful thing. / B. Family members are cruel.
C. Living by the ocean can be dangerous. / D. Death cannot separate true love.
_____3. / From careful reading (and thinking), you can infer that “seraphs” are:
A. Angels / B. Relatives
C. Lovers / D. Horses with wings
_____4. / From careful reading (and thinking), you can infer that a “sepulchre” is:
A. A castle / B. A home
C. A tomb / D. A ship
_____5. / What is the effect of the poet’s repetition of “In this kingdom by the sea”?
A. It adds romance and mystery to the poem / B. It confuses the reader
C. It lets the reader know that Annabel Lee drowned / D. It shows how alone the speaker is.
_____6. / The tone of the poem is:
A. Happy and upbeat / B. Scary
C. Melancholy and sad / D. Angry and hostile
_____7. / The stars symbolize:
A. The jealousy of the angels. / B. Annabel Lee’s love for the speaker.
C. The kinsmen’s hatred for the couple. / D. His pain and suffering.
_____8. / The moon symbolizes:
A. The seraphs’ jealousy of their love. / B. The speaker’s memories of Annabel Lee.
C. The pain that the speaker feels. / D. The hatred that the speaker feels for the kinsmen.
_____9. / The speaker blames the kinsmen for separating him from Annabel Lee. Logos to prove his argument is in these lines:
A. “So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre” / B. “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride”
C. “For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams” / D. “But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we”
_____10. / Based on the evidence in the poem, we can infer that Annabel Lee probably died from pneumonia or a really nasty cold. That evidence is in line:
A. 5 / B. 15
C. 20 / D. 30
_____11. / The speaker blames this for her death:
A. The seraph’s jealousy of their love. / B. The sea
C. The kinsmen’s disappointment in her choice of lovers / D. The cold wind.
_____12. / Evidence to support the answer to number 11 is in lines:
A. 3-4 / B. 11-12
C. 27-28 / D. 34-35
_____13. / At the end of the poem, readers learn that the speaker:
A. Is over Annabel Lee / B. Wants to kill the seraphs and kinsmen
C. Sleeps next to Annabel Lee’s sepulchre every night / D. Never sleeps any more
_____14. / An example of personification:
A. “the sounding sea” / B. The wind chilling and killing Annabel Lee
C. The kinsmen take her away / D. “I lie down by the side”
_____15. / An example of alliteration:
A. “chilling and killing” / B. “the stars never rise”
C. “Can ever dissever my soul” / D. “the sounding sea”