The Second Coming MCQ XI 1st Semester WBCHSE
1. Who wrote the poem ‘The Second Coming’?
(a) John Keats
(b) William Blake
(c) TS Eliot
(d) William Butler Yeats.
2. WB Yeats was a-
(a) dramatist
(b) poet
(c) novelist
(d) poet and dramatist.
3. WB Yeats was born on-
(a) January 13, 1865
(b) June 13, 1865
(c) January 28, 1863
(d) June 28, 1863.
4. WB Yeats died on
(a) January 26, 1939
(b) January 26, 1965
(c) January 28, 1939
(d) January 28, 1965.
5. Yeats was a member of the Irish-
(a) Senate
(b) Assembly
(c) Parliament
(d) none of these.
6. Yeats’ poetic career spans the period of-
(a) seventy years
(b) sixty years
(c) fifty years
(d) more than fifty years.
7. Which of the following school of thought was Yeats interested in ?
(a) Christianity
(b) Occultism and spirituality
(c) Judaism
(d) Druidry.
8. When was the poem ‘The Second Coming’ written?
(a) 1918
(b) 1919
(c) 1920
(d) 1921.
9. When was the poem ‘The Second Coming’ printed for the first time ?
(a) September 1820
(b) October 1820
(c) November 1920
(d) December 1920.
10. The name of the collection in which ‘The Second Coming’ was published is-
(a) ‘Last Poems and Plays’
(b) ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’
(c) ‘Michael Robartes and the Dancer’
(d) ‘The Winding Stair and Other Poems’.
11. Which Book of the Bible does the term ‘the second coming’ originate from?
(a) Genesis
(b) Exodus
(c) Song of Solomon
(d) Book of Revelation.
12. Which author titled a novel after a quote from ‘The Second Coming’?
(a) Chinua Achebe → ‘Things Fall Apart’ (1958)
(b) Toni Morrison → ‘Beloved’ (1987)
(c) Anne Garréta → ‘Sphinx’ (1986)
(d) Karen Kelly ‘Bethlehem’ (2019).
13. The poem is written in
(a) iambic tetrametre
(b) iambic pentametre
(c) iambic hexametre
(d) iambic diametre.
14. What are some major themes of the poem ‘The second Coming’?
(a) Violence
(b) Prophecy
(c) Hopelessness
(d) All of these.
15. The main type of imagery that Yeats used in this poem is—
(a) violent
(b) scientific
(c) Christian
(d) natural.
16. Which of the following perspectives ‘The Second Coming’ is written from?
(a) First person
(b) Second person
(c) Third person
(d) A universal perspective.
17. ‘The Second Coming’ is a/an-
(a) ode
(b) sonnet
(c) free verse
(d) lyric poem.
18. How many stanzas are there in ‘The Second Coming’?
(a) Two stanzas
(b) Three stanzas
(c) Four stanzas
(d) Five stanzas.
19. What does the phrase ‘The Second Coming’ refer to in the Bible ?
(a) The second appearance of the Devil.
(b) The second appearance of Moses.
(c) The second appearance of Jesus Christ.
(d) The second appearance of the Garden of Eden.
20. The word ‘turning’ in the poem suggests-
(a) the poet turned sideways in his sleep
(b) the poet saw a vision which proved to be a turning point for his career
(c) movement of the wheel of history
(d) fortune turning into misfortue.
21. What is a ‘gyre’?
(a) A tunnel
(b) A ship
(c) A spiral motion
(d) A globe.
22. What does the word ‘gyre’ mean in the poem?
(a) It stands for the alteration between two historical events.
(b) It stands for the alteration between creation and destruction.moonca
(c) It stands for the alteration between life and death.
(d) It stands for the alteration between apocalypse and blessing.
23. In Yeats’ ‘The Second Coming’ the falcon symbolises-
(a) human race
(b) human pleasures
(c) man’s miseries
(d) the animal world.
24. In the poem, the word ‘falconer’ symbolises-
(a) Christ
(b) mankind
(c) the person who trains falcons
(d) the person who uses falcons to hunt.
25. The metaphor of the falcon not being able to hear the falconer means-
(a) Yeats is a terrible hunter
(b) the best method for finding the enemy in warfare is to listen carefully
(c) things are spiraling out of control
(d) nature is ignorant to change.
26. “Things fall apart…” This suggests-
(a) all things are centralized
(b) everything is defused
(c) all things are bound together
(d) all things are shattered on the ground.
27. In Yeats’ ‘The Second Coming’ the word ‘anarchy’ refers to-
(a) a political stance
(b) end of civilisation
(c) an uncontrollable chaos
(d) celebration of Christ’s birth.
28. Lines 1-4 in Yeats’ ‘The Second Coming’ illustrate the use of-
(a) analogy
(c) aphorism
(b) illusion
(d) apostrophe.
29. What figure of speech is used in the phrase ‘The blood-dimmed tide’?
(a) Simile
(b) Metaphor
(c) Hyperbole
(d) Personification.
30. The lines “The falcon cannot hear the falconer… The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere”-
(a) convey unending and limitless destruction
(b) illustrate the unpredictable nature of chaos
(c) highlight the falcon’s plight as dark and empty
(d) break bloodshed into manageable parts.
31. The phrase ‘ceremony of innocence’ suggests-
(a) traditional and innocent way of life
(b) the celebration of baptism
(c) humanity’s loss of innocence
(d) a counterpart of Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence’.
32. The figure of speech used in the phrase ‘ceremony of innocence is drowned everywhere’ is a/an-
(a) antithesis
(b) enjambment
(c) anaphora
(d) metaphor.
33. The phrase ‘passionate intensity’ in the poem ‘The Second Coming’ symbolises-
(a) strong feelings
(b) extreme degree of strength
(c) fanaticism and violence
(d) feats of tension and anxiety.
34. The juxtaposition in lines “The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity”
(a) contrasts good and evil
(b) explores the reasons behind the Second Coming
(c) compares a terrible beast to new life
(d) presents a cause for the lack of conviction.
35. In lines 7 and 8, the speaker’s tone can best be described as-
(a) sarcastic
(b) nostalgic
(c) pessimistic
(d) compassionate.
36. “Surely some revelation is at hand;”-What kind of revelation is being spoken about?
(a) Christ’s second appearance
(b) A war of independence
(c) The government’s corruption
(d) The poet has been appointed a Senator.
37. ‘Spiritus Mundi’ is a word of-
(a) Greek language
(b) Latin language
(c) French language
(d) Dutch language.
38. ‘Spiritus Mundi’ had the body of a / an-
(a) human
(b) bird
(c) lion
(d) Ox.
39. ‘Spiritus Mundi’ had the head of a/an-
(a) animal
(b) bird
(c) snake
(d) man.
40. The poetic device used in the line “Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert” is-
(a) consonance
(b) allusion
(c) alliteration
(d) symbolism.
41. “Somewhere in sands of the desert / A shape with lion body and the head of man”-This is an example of-
(a) assonance
(b) simile
(c) symbolismnt to
(d) imagery.
42. What kind of mythological creature is featured in the poem?
(a) A Werewolf
(b) A Demogorgon
(c) A Griffin
(d) A Sphinx.
43. The phrase ‘blank and pitiless as the sun’ refers to-
(a) the falcon’s gaze
(b) the faces of the mass
(c) the falconer’s gaze
(d) the sphinx’s gaze.
44. “A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun”-Here the poet has used-
(a) simile
(b) metaphor
(c) hyperbole
(d) alliteration.
45. ‘Desert birds’ are the symbol of-
(a) life
(b) happiness
(c) death
(d) tears.
46. What do the sphinx and the desert birds most likely not represent ?
(a) A primal creative force
(b) The anti-Christ
(c) The deliverence of riddles or clues
(d) Noah and his ark.
47. When the speaker says “the darkness drops again”, he is suggesting that-
(a) the vision is fading
(b) his faith in humanity is affirmed
(c) the death of humanity is imminent
(d) the desert sun has set.
48. The phrase ‘twenty centuries of stony sleep’ in the poem refers to-
(a) the nearly 2000 years since Christ’s first coming
(b) the narrator’s 2000 years of secluded life
(c) the 2000 years left until the next apocalypse
(d) the 2000 years since the sphinx’s first
49. prophecy.t ni nisme 49 In ‘The Second Coming’ the phrase ‘rocking cradle’ shows a metaphor for-
(a) something pleasant and peaceful
(b) Christ’s birth
(c) social upheaval
(d) a mother rocking the cradle to make her baby sleep.s
50. What is the symbol of the “rough beast” as mentioned in the poem?
(a) A monster
(b) A saviour
(c) A revolution
(d) An apocalypse.
OR, The ‘rough beast’ in the poem refers to
(a) Christ
(c) Moloch
(b) Beelzebub
(d) anti-Christ.
51. The word ‘slouches’ means
(a) moving or standing in a lazy way
(b) moving in a drooping way
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) none of these.
52. The lines “And what rough beast, its hour… to be born?” —
(a) provide readers some comfort regarding the end of the world
(b) delivers an unexpected climax regarding the darkness about to descend
(c) answers an idea posed about death in the first stanza
(d) showcase uncertainty about the coming events.
53. The readers may comprehend that the rough beast is not alone in its dark venture as-
(a) the shadows of desert birds moving all around it as its companions
(b) its army is waiting at Bethlehem for it
(c) there are more beasts sleeping in the desert like him
(d) all the other beasts who want to destroy mankind will eventually join him.
54. Which city is the beast approaching ?
(a) Bethel
(b) Sinai
(c) Bethlehem
(d) Jerusalem.
55. What is the relevance of ‘Bethlehem’ in the poem?
(a) It is Yeats’ hometown.
(b) It is the site of the nativity.
(c) It is where Moses received the Ten Commandments.
(d) It was the site of a major battle in World War I.
56. The difference between the first and second stanzas is best described as-
(a) the first has definite rhyme scheme, and the second does not
(b) the first contains imagery predicting the Second Coming, which the second confirms
(c) the first develops a metaphor about life, while the second contrasts that comparison
(d) the first lacks specific details, the second provides concrete descriptions.
57. The speaker suggests that ‘the Second Coming’ will be accompanied by-
(a) joy
(b) paralysis
(c) harmony
(d) turbulence.
58. Which is not a message of the poem ?
(a) Christ will come and save us all.
(b) Something is coming.
(c) The world is becoming detached from tradition and morality.
(d) The world is in trouble.
59. Which of the following statements is implied in the poem?s gribasie so galtom(s)
(a) Hope is always stronger than fear.
(b) The Second Coming can be liberating and positive as well as dangerous.
(c) There is no redemption to be found and the world is going to be destroyed.
(d) Change is definitely positive as it will create space for a new reality.
60. Which is not a word that characterises ‘The Second Coming’?
(a) Chaos
(b) Possibility
(c) Silence
(d) Destruction.
61. Which is not an example of Yeats’ prophecies in ‘The Second Coming’ becoming true in the 20th century?
(a) The invention of the Atomic bomb.
(b) The decrease in churchgoing among youth.
(c) The Holocaust.
(d) The environmental movement.
62. What is the overall tone of the poem ?
(a) Excitement
(b) Doubt
(c) Confidence
(d) Anxiety.
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