Dover Beach (Practice Test)

1. What is the primary theme of “Dover Beach”?
(A) The beauty of nature
(B) The decline of religious faith in the modern world
(C) A celebration of romantic love
(D) The excitement of war

2. Which literary device is used in the line, “The Sea of Faith / Was once, too, at the full”?
(A) Simile
(B) Metaphor
(C) Alliteration
(D) Personification

3. What does the “eternal note of sadness” refer to in the poem?
(A) The sound of waves
(B) The loss of spiritual certainty
(C) The poet’s personal grief
(D) The joy of human connection

4. The tone of the poem shifts from calm to:
(A) Joyful
(B) Despairing
(C) Humorous
(D) Indifferent

5. What does the speaker urge his beloved to do in the final stanza?
(A) Escape to a distant land
(B) Be faithful to one another in a chaotic world
(C) Forget the past
(D) Seek divine intervention

6. The “grating roar of pebbles” symbolizes:
(A) The power of nature
(B) The erosion of human certainty
(C) The sound of battle
(D) The passage of time

7. The allusion to “Sophocles” hearing the “eternal note of sadness” connects the poem to:
(A) Ancient Greek tragedy
(B) Medieval religious texts
(C) Romantic poetry
(D) Victorian optimism

8. The phrase “ignorant armies clash by night” suggests:
(A) A literal battle scene
(B) Humanity’s senseless conflicts in a meaningless world
(C) A historical reference to Dover’s wars
(D) A metaphor for inner turmoil

9. The poem reflects which major Victorian concern?
(A) Industrial progress
(B) The crisis of faith due to science and modernity
(C) Imperial expansion
(D) Social class struggles

10. The irregular rhythm of the poem mirrors:
(A) The predictability of nature
(B) The uncertainty and chaos of the modern world
(C) The structure of a sonnet
(D) The joy of love