AP English Literature and Composition Poetry II — Worked Answer Explanations

Unit 5 · 12 questions explained

Below is a complete answer key for our AP English Literature and Composition Poetry II practice questions. For each question you'll find the correct choice, a full written explanation of how to get there, and — for every wrong answer — a short note on exactly why it's tempting and where it goes wrong. Reading these straight through is one of the fastest ways to find the gaps in a unit before exam day.

Prefer to test yourself first? Take the timed Poetry II practice test and come back here to review, or head back to the Poetry II unit overview.

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Question 1 · Easy
Poem 2 (Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess," 1842 — public domain, excerpt).

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there;

Which choice best describes the SPEAKER of Poem 2?
- A
  The painter Frà Pandolf.
  Why not A: The speaker mentions Frà Pandolf as the painter — speaker is the painting's owner.
- B
  An aristocrat displaying a portrait of his deceased wife to a visitor.Correct
- C
  The Duchess herself, narrating from beyond death.
  Why not C: The Duchess is the SUBJECT being discussed, not the speaker.
- D
  A neutral curator or guide.
  Why not D: The speaker's possessive 'my last Duchess' and control of the curtain mark him as more than a curator.
Explanation
'My last Duchess,' 'I call,' 'I said,' 'the curtain I have drawn for you, but I' — the speaker is the painting's owner, controlling access to it, addressing an unnamed visitor.

Key takeaway
In dramatic monologue, identify the speaker by their possessions, their gestures, and who they are addressing.
Question 2 · Medium
Poem 1 (John Keats, "When I have fears that I may cease to be," 1818 — public domain).

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night's starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love — then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

In Poem 1, the EXTENDED METAPHOR comparing writing to harvest most directly suggests:
- A
  The speaker fears producing too much.
  Why not A: Opposite — the fear is of NOT producing what is in him.
- B
  The speaker views his mind's contents as something to be harvested into books before death.Correct
- C
  The speaker is a farmer who also writes.
  Why not C: Comic-literal — the harvest is metaphorical, applied to writing.
- D
  The speaker mistrusts his own talent.
  Why not D: The 'teeming brain' and 'full ripened grain' both signal richness, not doubt.
Explanation
'Pen has gleaned my teeming brain,' 'high-piled books... rich garners,' 'full ripened grain' — Keats sustains an agricultural metaphor across four lines. His brain produces grain; his books store it. Death threatens to interrupt the harvest before the writing is complete.

Key takeaway
Extended metaphors work by sustaining a comparison's vocabulary — track all the words from the source domain and what they map to in the target.
Question 3 · Medium
Poem 1 (John Keats, "When I have fears that I may cease to be," 1818 — public domain).

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night's starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love — then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

Based on Poem 1, the speaker's three repeated openings ("When I have... When I behold... when I feel") chiefly create:
- A
  A cumulative catalog of losses before the speaker arrives at the closing resolution.Correct
- B
  A series of unrelated thoughts.
  Why not B: They are tightly connected — all three are losses the speaker contemplates.
- C
  Three separate poems combined.
  Why not C: It is a single sonnet structured as one continuous meditation.
- D
  A sequence of unfulfilled requests.
  Why not D: Not requests — meditations on what death would interrupt.
Explanation
The 'When I' anaphora builds parallel imagined losses (creative work, observed beauty, love), preparing for the volta-like turn: 'then on the shore / Of the wide world I stand alone.' The cumulative structure intensifies the closing.

Key takeaway
Anaphora in sonnets often catalogs a sequence of stakes before the turn — the accumulated weight is what makes the volta land.
Question 4 · Medium
Poem 3 (Gerard Manley Hopkins, "God's Grandeur," 1877 — public domain).

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

In Poem 3, the SOUND DEVICES (alliteration, repetition) most chiefly serve to:
- A
  Showcase the poet's technical skill independent of meaning.
  Why not A: Sound here is in service of theme, not display alone.
- B
  Enact the world's wear and weariness through the repetitive sound texture.Correct
- C
  Imitate church bells.
  Why not C: Not bell-like — closer to the slog of footsteps.
- D
  Make the poem easier to memorize.
  Why not D: Mnemonic effect is incidental, not the primary function.
Explanation
'Trod, have trod, have trod' literally repeats — the foot-fall of generations. 'Seared... bleared, smeared... smudge and smell' clusters consonants and rhymes the weariness of human labor on the earth. The sound enacts what the lines describe.

Key takeaway
Hopkins's sound effects do thematic work — note when repeated consonants or words enact the meaning the lines describe.
Question 5 · Hard
Poem 1 (John Keats, "When I have fears that I may cease to be," 1818 — public domain).

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night's starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love — then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

Based on Poem 1, the closing image of the speaker standing "on the shore / Of the wide world" with Love and Fame sinking "to nothingness" chiefly conveys:
- A
  Sudden peace as the speaker arrives at indifference.
  Why not A: The image is solemn, not peaceful — Love and Fame 'sink' into nothing.
- B
  The diminishment of even cherished things in the face of mortality.Correct
- C
  A literal trip to the seaside.
  Why not C: Comic-literal reading of an obvious metaphor.
- D
  Anger at fame and love.
  Why not D: Tone is contemplative, not angry.
Explanation
The closing image positions the speaker at the edge of the 'wide world,' watching even the great pursuits — Love and Fame — sink to nothingness. The thought of death reduces what mattered to vanishing point. It's the sonnet's resolution: contemplation that diminishes claims that earlier felt urgent.

Key takeaway
Closing images in sonnets often re-evaluate what the poem has set up — note what is diminished, what is preserved.
Question 6 · Hard
Poem 1 (John Keats, "When I have fears that I may cease to be," 1818 — public domain).

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night's starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love — then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

Based on Poem 1, the structure of the sonnet is best described as moving from:
- A
  Multiple specific fears to a single reflective resolution.Correct
- B
  A single fear to multiple resolutions.
  Why not B: Opposite direction of movement.
- C
  An argument to a refutation.
  Why not C: Not an argumentative structure — meditative.
- D
  Joy to despair.
  Why not D: Doesn't begin in joy — begins in named fears.
Explanation
Three 'When I' clauses pile up specific fears (unwritten books, untraced symbols, lost love). The closing two lines turn to a single image of standing alone and watching Love and Fame sink — moving from cataloged fears to a unified resolution.

Key takeaway
Track how sonnets move structurally: from many to one, from question to answer, from specific to general.
Question 7 · Hard
Poem 2 (Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess," 1842 — public domain, excerpt).

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there;

Based on Poem 2, the line "since none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you, but I" most directly reveals:
- A
  The speaker's careful control over who is allowed to see the portrait.Correct
- B
  The portrait is too fragile to be on permanent display.
  Why not B: Fragility is not implied; control is.
- C
  The painter requires the curtain.
  Why not C: The curtain is the speaker's choice, not the painter's.
- D
  The speaker is hiding the painting from himself.
  Why not D: He freely shows it to visitors when HE chooses.
Explanation
Only the speaker controls who sees the portrait — a small detail that reveals an obsessive desire to manage access to the Duchess even after her death. The curtain literalizes the control he could not exert in life.

Key takeaway
Small possessive gestures in dramatic monologue can reveal character — note who controls what.
Question 8 · Hard
Poem 2 (Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess," 1842 — public domain, excerpt).

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there;

Based on Poem 2, the speaker's casual mention of Frà Pandolf creates an effect best described as:
- A
  A flat report of a famous painter.
  Why not A: The speaker says he named the painter 'by design' — that's not flat reporting.
- B
  Casual social display — making sure the visitor recognizes the value of what they are being shown.Correct
- C
  Confession of forgery.
  Why not C: No suggestion the painting is forged.
- D
  Anxiety about the painting's authenticity.
  Why not D: The speaker has total confidence in his possession's value.
Explanation
'I said "Frà Pandolf" by design' — the speaker tells the visitor why he named the painter: so that strangers would know the work's pedigree and be properly impressed. The aside reveals his appetite for prestige and control of the visitor's perception.

Key takeaway
Self-explaining asides in dramatic monologue often reveal the speaker's social calculations — what they wanted you to notice and why.
Question 9 · Hard
Poem 3 (Gerard Manley Hopkins, "God's Grandeur," 1877 — public domain).

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

Based on Poem 3, the simile "like the ooze of oil / Crushed" suggests that God's grandeur:
- A
  Emerges from pressure or compression rather than being immediately visible.Correct
- B
  Is messy and difficult to clean up.
  Why not B: Reads the simile too negatively; 'gathers to a greatness' frames it positively.
- C
  Resembles industrial pollution.
  Why not C: Industrial pollution appears in the second quatrain as a contrast, not in this simile.
- D
  Is invisible.
  Why not D: Quite visible in the simile — oil gathering, oil that pours out.
Explanation
Olive oil emerges only when olives are pressed — it 'gathers to a greatness' through compression. Hopkins suggests God's grandeur, similarly, may not be immediately apparent and is sometimes revealed through pressure. The simile distinguishes grandeur that 'flames out' (sudden shine) from grandeur that gradually 'gathers' (slow pressing).

Key takeaway
Similes can do philosophical work — match the source detail (oil from crushing) to the target detail (grandeur from pressure).
Question 10 · Hard
Poem 2 (Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess," 1842 — public domain, excerpt).

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there;

Based on Poem 2, the closing question of the excerpt ("How such a glance came there") chiefly sets up:
- A
  A revelation about the Duchess's fate at the speaker's hands.Correct
- B
  An argument about portrait technique.
  Why not B: Technique is incidental — the question is about the Duchess herself.
- C
  A change of speaker.
  Why not C: The poem continues with the same speaker.
- D
  A philosophical digression on art.
  Why not D: Reading beyond what the question itself signals.
Explanation
The question is the structural setup for the rest of the dramatic monologue: how the Duchess came to look so animated in the painting (and what happened to her). The reader senses something is coming — the speaker's offhand control will give way to disclosures about her end.

Key takeaway
Dramatic monologue often uses casually-posed questions as gateways into the revelations that follow.
Question 11 · Hard
Poem 3 (Gerard Manley Hopkins, "God's Grandeur," 1877 — public domain).

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

Based on Poem 3, the closing line "the soil / Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod" most chiefly suggests:
- A
  Modern humanity has lost direct sensory contact with the natural world.Correct
- B
  Soil quality has improved.
  Why not B: 'Bare' is a sign of degradation, not improvement.
- C
  Shoes are made of natural materials.
  Why not C: Reduces the line to a literal observation about footwear.
- D
  Generations have walked across bare soil for centuries.
  Why not D: Misses 'being shod' — the foot's INABILITY to feel because it is covered.
Explanation
'Nor can foot feel, being shod' compresses the loss of contact: the foot, encased in shoes, can no longer feel the soil. The image stands in for a larger argument that modernity insulates humanity from direct sensory experience of the natural (and divine) world.

Key takeaway
Compact closing lines in lyric poems often contain the poem's thesis — note the small physical detail that stands in for a larger philosophical claim.
Question 12 · Hard
Poem 1 (John Keats, "When I have fears that I may cease to be," 1818 — public domain).

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night's starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love — then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

Poem 2 (Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess," 1842 — public domain, excerpt).

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there;

Poem 3 (Gerard Manley Hopkins, "God's Grandeur," 1877 — public domain).

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

Across Poems 1, 2, and 3, which feature is most distinctive of each poet's mode?
- A
  All three poems use the same formal structure.
  Why not A: Keats writes a sonnet; Browning writes a dramatic monologue in iambic pentameter; Hopkins uses sprung rhythm. Three distinct modes.
- B
  Keats uses extended metaphor; Browning uses dramatic monologue with a single speaker's revealing voice; Hopkins uses dense sound texture to enact meaning.Correct
- C
  All three are written by Romantic poets in the same decade.
  Why not C: Keats (Romantic), Browning (Victorian), Hopkins (Victorian, sprung-rhythm innovator) span different periods and styles.
- D
  All three address the same subject.
  Why not D: Mortality, possession-and-power, and divine grandeur are three different subjects.
Explanation
Keats deploys the harvest extended metaphor across the octave. Browning relies on the speaker's own voice to reveal control and possessiveness — what dramatic monologue is built to do. Hopkins's dense alliteration and rhythmic repetition enact theme through sound. Each poet's hallmark technique appears.

Key takeaway
Poetic mode is poet-specific — track which techniques each poet relies on most heavily.