16th and 17th Century Poetry Brief Suggestion (2021-22) Exam- 2024

16th and 17th Century Poetry Brief Suggestion (2021-22) Exam- 2024

 

• সবগুলোই পড়বেন। 
• তবে খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ৬০ টি ব্রিফ ✪✪✪ দেওয়া হলো।
• যেগুলো ব্রিফ বিগত সালের ওগুলো খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। তবে ২০২৩ সালে আসা ব্রিফগুলো পড়বেন না। 
• এই ব্রিফ সাজেশন যথেষ্ট। এগুলো পড়লেই ১০০% কমন থাকবে ইনশাআল্লাহ। 

 

Edmund Spenser

 

Who was called the poet’s poet? (NU. 2016) ✪✪✪ 

Ans: Edmund Spenser.

Which age did Spenser belong to? (NU. 2016)

Ans: Elizabethan Age (1558-1603).

What kind of poem is “The Faerie Queene?”  ✪✪✪

Ans: An allegorical poem.

Give an example of a romantic epic. (NU. 2016)

Ans: “The Faerie Queene”.

Whom does the poet invoke in “The Faerie Queene?”

Ans: Besides calling to the Muses in his introduction, he invokes Cupid, the god of love.

Who is the noble British Prince?

Ans: Prince Arthur was a noble British prince.

Who is the Red Cross Knight?

Ans: The Red Cross Knight is the hero of Book One of The Faerie Queene. 

What does the monster Error symbolize? (NU. 2023)

Ans: The Monster Error stands for mistakes made by human beings. In another meaning, it also stands for Roman Catholicism or the Pope of Rome.

How did the Red Cross Knight attack the monster Error?

Ans: The brave Red Cross Knight attacked the monster Error with great force, like a lion jumping on its prey. He used his sharp sword to stop it from escaping.

What is the Nile? Why is it famous?

Ans: The Nile is a famous river in Egypt and an essential economic river that supports agriculture and fishing.

Who is Lady Una?

Ans: Lady Una, the heroine of The Faerie Queene, Book I, is the daughter of the fairy king and queen, symbolizing Truth, Goodness, and Wisdom.

What did the monster Error vomit? (NU. 2013)

Ans: The monster Error vomited out black poison full of lumps of flesh, books, papers, frogs, and toads without eyes.

Why is the Knight in “The Faerie Queene” called the Red Cross Knight? (NU. 2012, 15)

Ans: Because a blood-red cross was inscribed both on the breastplate of his armour and on his shield.

Who has ‘the Queene’ assigned to rescue Una’s parents? (NU. 2014)

Ans: Red Cross Knight.

What does the Dwarf represent in “The Faerie Queene”? (NU. 2014)

Ans: The Dwarf represents prudence or common sense.

Who is Archimago? (NU. 2012, 15)

Ans: Archimago is the arch magician. He symbolizes hypocrisy or Satan in “The Faerie Queene”.

What was the colour of Error’s blood?

Ans: The colour of Error’s blood was coal black.

What does “Archimago” symbolize? ✪✪✪

Ans: Archimago symbolizes the hypocrisy and plots of Roman Catholicism against Anglicanism or the English Church.

Who is Queen Gloriana?/ Who is Gloriana? (NU. 2013, 17, 20) ✪✪✪

Ans: Gloriana is the queen of the Fairy Land (England)./ Queen Gloriana is an idealized portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. 

Whom does Queen Gloriana represent? (NU. 2016)

Ans: Queen Elizabeth I.

Who is the greatest lady of the greatest Isle?

Ans: Queen Elizabeth I.

What is the meaning of the word ‘Archimago? (NU. 2020) ✪✪✪

Ans: Arch magician.

What is an invocation? (NU. 2015, 19, 21) ✪✪✪

Ans: An invocation is a formal appeal for help or inspiration, often addressed to a deity or muse at the start of a literary work.

What does Una wear while riding on an ass? (NU. 2021)

Ans: Una wears a black long robe while riding on an ass. 

What is “Ave-Mary”?

Ans: The Ave Maria (Hail Mary) is a traditional Christian prayer that addresses Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Who was banished from entering the house of Morpheus?

Ans: Care was banished from Morpheus’s house.

Who was Hecate? (NU. 2023)

Ans: Hecate was the chief goddess of magic and spells.

What is an allegory? (NU. 2012) ✪✪✪

Ans: An allegory is a story with a hidden meaning, where characters and events represent ideas or qualities.

How were the children of the Monster of Error killed? (NU. 2018)

Ans: The children drink their mother’s blood until they burst and die.

What did the children of Error do after their mother’s death? (NU. 2023)

Ans. After Error fell down, her children tried to enter her mouth. When they could not, they started drinking her blood.

What is ‘Spenserian Stanza’? (NU. 2019)

Ans: A Spenserian stanza is a nine-line stanza consisting of eight lines in iambic pentameter followed by an Alexandrine in iambic hexameter.

What does Lady Una symbolize?/ What does Lady Una stand for? (NU. 2012, 17, 19, 22) ✪✪✪

Ans: She symbolizes Truth, Goodness, and Wisdom.

How did the children of Monster Error look? (NU. 2019) ✪✪✪

Ans: The children of Monster Error looked like little serpents with different shapes. 

What scares the Red Cross Knight away from the House of Pride? (NU. 2018)

Ans: The dungeons hidden beneath the House of Pride scare the Red Cross Knight away from the House of Pride.

 

John Donne

 

What is metaphysical poetry?

Ans: Metaphysical poetry is marked by the use of elaborate figurative language, original conceits, paradoxes, and philosophical topics.

What is the nature of true love in Donne’s poems? (NU. 2021) ✪✪✪

Ans: True love is unaffected by time and space. It knows no division of time, like hours, days, months, or seasons.

In what sense is Donne’s love Platonic in his poems? (NU. 2021) ✪✪✪

Ans: His love is more than just physical attraction. It is pure and spiritual, so it is called Platonic love.

What is Donne’s view on love in this poem? 

Ans: Donne’s view on love in this poem cannot be termed definitely Platonic or sensual, but rather a mixture of both.

What does the poet compare his beloved to?

Ans: He compares his beloved to the spices found in the East Indies and to the valuable metals and stone found in the West Indies.

How does the poet rebuke the sun in the poem “The Sun Rising”? (NU. 2017)  ✪✪✪

Ans: In “The Sun Rising,” the poet rebukes the sun as a ‘Busy, old, fool, unruly sun’.

How does Donne use personification in “The Sun Rising”? (NU. 2018)

Ans: In “The Sun Rising,” Donne disparagingly personifies the sun as a “busy old fool” who is “unruly” in the face of some authority.

Why are the East and West Indies famous? (NU. 2016)

Ans: The East Indies for their spices, and the West Indies for their diamond and other mineral substances.

Why is the sun scolded in “The Sun Rising”? (NU. 2020, 23) 

Ans: For disturbing the lovers in their bed-room.

Why does Donne call the sun ‘unruly’? (NU. 2022)

Ans. Donne calls the sun ‘unruly’ for disturbing the lovers in their bedroom.

How is the sun scolded in “The Sun Rising”? (NU. 2014) ✪✪✪

Ans: In “The Sun Rising”, the sun is scolded by the poet as ‘Busy, old, fool, unruly sun. 

Why does the poet forbid his beloved to mourn?

Ans: Because the speaker and his lover are linked so strongly by spiritual bonds that their separation has little meaning.

What is the nature of love between the poet and his beloved?

Ans: The poet’s and his beloved’s love is spiritual and refined.

What does the poet compare their two souls to?

Ans: The two lovers’ souls are compared to a compass.

“Thy firmness makes my circle just.” Explain. Or, how will the two lovers re-unite?

Ans: The poet says that his beloved has a “firmness” that makes his “circle just,” or keeps it within a limited area. No matter what he does or where he roams, she will always return him to where he began.

What does the word ‘Valediction’ mean? (NU. 2013, 17, 20) ✪✪✪

Ans: The word ‘Valediction’ means farewell.

What do you mean by the expression, “The Phoenix riddle”?

Ans: The Phoenix is a mythical bird that existed at a time, and when its life-term of 500 years is over, it burns itself on a burning pyre and then renews itself from its ashes.

What is the true nature of Donne’s love in “Canonization”? (NU. 2023)

Ans: According to Donne, love must be based on both body and soul.

What is the popular idea about death? (NU. 2023)

Ans. People think death is very powerful and scary. It can kill anyone at any time.

What do you mean by the word ‘canonization’? (NU. 2013) ✪✪✪

Ans: Canonization means the act of declaring a dead person to be a saint by a Christian church.

What is canonization? (NU. 2012, 18) 

Ans: According to Christianity, the term ‘canonization’ means to proclaim a person to be a saint after his death by canon law and to be fully honoured as such.

What does the Phoenix symbolize?

Ans: The Phoenix symbolizes the immortality of the love of the poet and his beloved.

What prayer does Donne make to God? ✪✪✪

Ans: Donne prays to God (the lover) to save him (The mistress) from the grips of Satan (adversary of God) and to free him from all wickedness. 

What does ‘Three Personed God’ refer to in “Batter My Heart”? (NU. 2012, 15) ✪✪✪

Ans: The phrase “three person’d God” is an allusion to the Holy Trinity.

In what sense does death resemble rest and sleep?

Ans: Just as sleep refreshes and invigorates the human mind, death provides more comfort and pleasure to the soul.

How is death conquered? Or, How will death die? Or, What is the poet’s idea about the soul’s immortality? ✪✪✪

Ans: Death can never corrupt an eternal soul. It resembles sleep and rest. Whenever this sleep will fade away, the couple will reunite again. 

How does the poet refute the pride of death? (NU. 2012) ✪✪✪

Ans: Death is unable to snatch one’s soul. 

Why does Donne advise Death not to be proud? (NU. 2017) ✪✪✪ 

Ans: Because death is actually a slave to the human race and has no power over our souls.

Why is a grave not a proper place for making love? (NU. 2013)

Ans: Because the dead body has no sensation or feeling, and ultimately it turns to dust.

What is a metaphysical conceit? (NU. 2014, 22) ✪✪✪ 

Ans: A metaphysical conceit is basically a simile or a comparison between two dissimilar things or two most heterogeneous ideas. The most famous example is the comparison of a man who travels and his beloved who stays at home to a pair of compasses in “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning.”

What is a conceit? (NU. 2016)

Ans: A conceit is a far-fetched comparison between two very dissimilar things.

 

Andrew Marvell

 

What does the title indicate about the mistress of the poet?

Ans: The title indicates that the poet’s mistress’s shyness impedes making love. 

Where is Humber situated?

Ans: Humber is a river in Humberside, North-East England.

What does the poet always hear at his back? (NU. 2023)

Ans: The poet always hears the sound of Time’s winged chariot, which reminds him that death is coming and life is short.

What is hyperbole? (NU. 2013)

Ans: A hyperbole is a figure of speech that employs rhetorical exaggeration for emphasis. 

What is a “Carpe Diem Theme”? (NU. 2012) ✪✪✪

Ans: Carpe Diem derives from Latin, which, in English, means seize the opportunity by enjoying the present time and trusting the future as little as possible.

What is ‘Carpe Diem Theory? In which poem do you find it? (NU. 2014)

Ans: ‘Carpe Diem Theory’ is a theory that tells us to enjoy the present moment without worrying about the past and future. This theory is found in the poem “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell. 

How is the lady committing a crime in “To His Coy Mistress”? (NU. 2014, 19) ✪✪✪

Ans: Showing her reluctance to make love, the lady is committing a crime. 

Why does Marvell call his beloved a coy mistress? (NU. 2015)

Ans: Marvell calls his beloved a coy mistress because she hesitates to respond quickly to her lover’s advances.

Name a poem in your syllabus in which the syllogistic pattern is used. (NU. 2017)

Ans: “To His Coy Mistress.”

What does the phrase ‘Time’s winged chariot signify? (NU. 2012, 18) ✪✪✪

Ans: The fleeting nature of time and the shortness of human life. 

Why does the lady hesitate to respond to her lover’s call? (NU. 2020)

Ans: Because of her shyness/coyness.

What is Marvell’s opinion about graves? (NU. 2018, 21) ✪✪✪

Ans: According to Marvell, a grave is a fine and private place where none can enjoy the pleasure of lovemaking.

What does the poet mean by the phrase “Vegetable Love’? (NU. 2013, 19, 21) ✪✪✪

Ans: By “vegetable love,” the poet means a kind of love that grows slowly and steadily, just like how plants and trees grow. He thinks that because his beloved is so shy, their love will not move fast but will last for thousands of years and keep getting bigger and stronger, just like a huge tree that spreads wider than an empire.

What is the nature of the poet’s love in the poem “The Definition of Love”? ✪✪✪

Ans: The poet and his beloved’s love is perfect and divine. As perfect love always remains unfulfilled, the poet regards it as the child of despair and impossibility.

What is the central theme of the poem “The Definition of Love”? ✪✪✪

Ans: Divine or true love means the union of two souls, but the separation of two bodies.

What figure of speech is used in the term ‘Magnanimous Despair’? (NU. 2015)

Ans: Oxymoron

What has prevented the union between the poet and his beloved in ‘The Definition of Love’? (NU. 2018) ✪✪✪

Ans: Fate.

How is the lover begotten in “The Definition of Love”? (NU. 2015, 17, 22) ✪✪✪

Ans: The poet says his love was born from Despair and Impossibility. Despair is like the father, and Impossibility is like the mother of his love.

How does Marvell define his utter frustration in love? (NU. 2020) ✪✪✪

Ans: The poet has defined his utter frustration in love as “Magnanimous Despair.”

How will the two lovers reunite, according to Marvell? (NU. 2021) ✪✪✪

Ans: The poet sees huge cosmic chaos. The world flattens like a pancake. This is when lovers can reunite.

What are the rivers mentioned in the poem “To His Coy Mistress”? (NU. 2017, 22) ✪✪✪

Ans: The Ganges in India and the Humber in England are referred to in the poem “To His Coy Mistress.”

Why does the poet call himself a ‘self-traitor”? (NU. 2015) ✪✪✪

Ans: Because though he wanted to start a new life, he brought into that garden of glory, his love, and his love was not completely pure.

What is the significance of Magnanimous Despair? (NU. 2016) ✪✪✪

Ans: The poet feels frustrated, but this has made him more generous and helped him see how special and pure love is. He calls his deep sadness “Magnanimous Despair,” which means a noble or great kind of sadness.

Why does the poet compare himself and his beloved to the amorous birds of prey? (NU. 2023)

Ans. The poet says they should love each other fiercely like passionate birds.

 

George Herbert

 

What is Easter? (NU. 2013)

Ans: Easter is a festival in the Christian Church Commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What does the ‘collar’ symbolize? (NU. 2012, 17) ✪✪✪

Ans: The collar symbolizes discipline in divinity. 

What does George Herbert mean by the word ‘collar’? (NU. 2013)

Ans: By the word ‘collar’, George Herbert means the rigorous discipline of priestly life.

What is the cause of turmoil in the author’s mind in ‘The Collar’? (NU. 2022)

Ans. The author’s desire for freedom is the cause of turmoil in his mind in “The Collar”.

What Biblical allusion do you find in the poem “Easter Wings”?

Ans: The speaker of “Easter Wings” makes several allusions to the Bible. First, the poem’s title references Easter Sunday, when, according to the biblical story, Jesus Christ rose from the dead after his crucifixion.

What is the significance of the title ‘Easter Wings? (NU. 2016) ✪✪✪

Ans: The title ‘Easter Wings’ signifies Christ’s resurrection from death. 

How did God purge the poet of his sins?

Ans: God had punished him with sickness and shame to purge him of his sins.

What is the central theme of the poem, “Easter Wings”? (NU. 2014)

Ans: “Easter Wings” is a religious meditation that focuses on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

What does ‘Easter Wings’ focus on? (NU. 2022)

Ans. The poem “Easter Wings” is about the poet’s wish to rise up to heaven and be close to God. He believes he can do this because he has strong faith in Christ, who defeated death.

What does ‘Easter’ stand for? (NU. 2015) ✪✪✪

Ans: Easter is a festival in the Christian Church Commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

How does the poet want to feel on Easter Sunday? (NU. 2023)

Ans. The poet wants to feel close to Christ and feel His victory over death on Easter Sunday.

How did a man, according to Herbert, become nearer to God? (NU. 2018) ✪✪✪

Ans: The poet could become nearer to God, having been cleansed of his sins.

What is Easter Sunday? (NU. 2017, 20) ✪✪✪

Ans: Easter Sunday is a religious Christian holiday observed globally to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What does the poem “Easter Wings” symbolize? (NU. 2019, 21) ✪✪✪

Ans: Flight and ascension with God.

What was Herbert’s reply to God’s calling him ‘child’? (NU. 2014, 18)

Ans: “My Lord”.

“Have I no harvest by a thorn?”- In which poem do you notice this line? (NU. 2014)

Ans: Herbert’s poem “The Collar”.

What kind of poem is “The Collar”? (NU. 2015, 16, 20) ✪✪✪

Ans:  Religious poem.

How does the poet console himself in “The Collar”? (NU. 2019) ✪✪✪

Ans: Herbert consoles himself by thinking that he still has time to return to a life of earthly pleasure.

How is Herbert reconciled with God? (NU. 2021) ✪✪✪

Ans. While raving like a madman in his rebellious mood, the poet heard an inner voice of God rebuking him gently and warning him for his rashness and rebelliousness. Realizing his folly, the poet at once submitted humbly to God, saying, “My Lord”.

 

John Milton

 

Who was Milton?

Ans: John Milton, an English poet, pamphleteer, and historian, is considered the most significant English author after William Shakespeare.

What are the four essential cosmology elements, according to Milton?

Ans: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

How did God punish Satan?

Ans: As punishment, God banished Satan out of Heaven to an eternity in Hell as the ultimate sinner.

In which year did Charles II restore his throne? (NU. 2016)

Ans: In 1660.

Why did Satan welcome Hell as his abode? (NU. 2020, 22) ✪✪✪

Ans: Satan’s greatest ambition was to reign, and his mind could not be changed in place and time. So, to reign in Hell was more lucrative to him than to serve in Heaven.

What do you mean by “Old Olympus”? (NU. 2023)

Ans. Old Olympus is a mountain in Greece where Greek gods like Zeus lived. The mountain’s top was always covered with snow.

Who is Jehovah? (NU. 2019) ✪✪✪

Ans:  ‘Jehovah’ is the name of God as described in the Christian translation of the Old Testament. 

Who is the ‘Infernal Serpent’? (NU. 2020)

Ans:  Satan. 

What is Manna? (NU. 2013, 16, 18, 20) ✪✪✪

Ans: Manna was food that fell from heaven and prevented Moses and his people from dying of hunger in the desert of Egypt.

Name the food that Moses got in the desert. (NU. 2022)

Ans. Manna.

Who is the tragic hero in ‘Paradise Lost’? (NU. 2022)

Ans. Satan is the tragic hero in “Paradise Lost”.

What is a blank verse? (NU. 2013, 19, 21) ✪✪✪

Ans:  Blank verse is a type of poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

What is the importance of Satan’s fifth speech? (NU. 2021) ✪✪✪

Ans:  Satan’s fifth speech is very significant because it expresses Satan’s rebellion against the monarchy of God.

What leadership qualities of Satan do you trace in his last Speech? (NU. 2021) ✪✪✪

Ans:  Satan is a very charismatic leader who earns the respect of his peers (fellow demons) through oratory.

Where was the prisons for the fallen angels made?

Ans: In the lowest part of chaos.

What is Satan’s sole delight? (NU. 2023)

Ans. Satan’s only joy is to do evil and to fight against God’s good works. 

How long is Satan’s spear? ✪✪✪

Ans: Satan’s spear is so huge that even the tallest pine tree from Norway, which is used to make the main mast of a big ship, would look tiny next to it.

Who is Beelzebub? (NU. 2012) ✪✪✪

Ans: In demonology, he is known as one of the seven deadly demons or seven princes of Hell. Beelzebub represents gluttony and envy.

What is the theme of the epic “Paradise Lost”? (NU. 2013) ✪✪✪

Ans: The story of Paradise Lost is Biblical, and its theme falls into three parts. The major themes of this epic are disobedience, manifestation of Eternal Providence, and justification of Divine ways.

What is Leviathan? In which poem do you find it? (NU. 2014, 23)

Ans: Leviathan refers to a sea monster. We find it in “Paradise Lost”.

What is “invocation” in an epic? (NU. 2015, 17) ✪✪✪

Ans: An invocation in an epic is a prayer for aid and guidance from a Muse at the beginning of the epic.

What is Pandemonium? (NU. 2013, 16) ✪✪✪

Ans: Pandemonium is the capital of Hell in John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost.

Who is the architect of Pandamonium? (NU. 2015, 17) ✪✪✪

Ans:  Mulciber

What is John Milton’s intention in writing ‘Paradise Lost’? (NU. 2018) ✪✪✪

Ans: To “justify the ways of God to men.”

What is Milton’s aim in writing “Paradise Lost”? (NU. 2014) ✪✪✪

Ans: Milton’s aim in writing “Paradise Lost” is to justify the ways of God to men.

What is meant by ‘Man’s first disobedience’? (NU. 2012, 15, 17, 19) ✪✪✪

Ans:  The phrase ‘Man’s first disobedience’ refers to the incident of the eating of the forbidden fruit by Adam and Eve.

Who was Rimmon?

Ans: Rimmon, also known as Hadad, refers to the god of rain and thunderstorms worshipped in Ancient Mesopotamian regions.

Who was the arch-enemy of God and man? 

Ans:  Satan.

Who is Moloch? (NU. 2022)

Ans. Moloch was one of the fallen angels. He became the god of the Ammonite people and they worshipped him with cruel and unnatural rituals in Rabba and nearby places.

What does Duessa symbolize? (NU. 2022)

Ans. Duessa symbolizes falsehood, deceit, and the seductive nature of evil.