Thyrsis (Practice Test)

1. Thyrsis is primarily a poem about:
(A) A celebration of spring
(B) The poet’s grief for his deceased friend Arthur Hugh Clough
(C) A critique of Oxford University
(D) A pastoral love story

2. The poem is modeled after which classical work?
(A) Homer’s Odyssey
(B) Virgil’s Eclogues
(C) Milton’s Lycidas
(D) Theocritus’ Idylls

3. The “signal-elm” tree in the poem symbolizes:
(A) The permanence of nature
(B) A landmark of lost youth and friendship
(C) Political rebellion
(D) Religious faith

4. Arnold contrasts the “two desires” of Thyrsis (Clough) as:
(A) Love vs. hatred
(B) Artistic creation vs. destruction
(C) The quest for truth vs. worldly success
(D) Rural life vs. urban life

5. The poem’s tone shifts from nostalgia to:
(A) Joyful acceptance
(B) Bitter anger
(C) Renewed hope in memory
(D) Religious certainty

6. The line “Too rare, too rare, grow now my visits here” reflects:
(A) Arnold’s guilt over neglecting Clough
(B) The fading of pastoral ideals
(C) The difficulty of returning to Oxford’s landscapes
(D) All of the above

7. Arnold uses the “Oxfordshire countryside” to represent:
(A) A lost paradise of youth and intellectual friendship
(B) The industrialization of England
(C) A political battleground
(D) Religious sanctity

8. The poem’s form is a(n):
(A) Sonnet sequence
(B) Elegy in irregular stanzas
(C) Blank verse monologue
(D) Ballad

9. The “gypsy-child” in the poem serves to:
(A) Contrast with Thyrsis’ intellectualism
(B) Symbolize fleeting happiness
(C) Represent Arnold’s own wanderings
(D) Mock pastoral conventions

10. The poem concludes with the image of the “signal-elm” to suggest:
(A) The tree’s death mirrors Clough’s
(B) The enduring power of memory
(C) Nature’s indifference to human loss
(D) A call to return to Oxford