MC The Collar Student 3

English
AP* Literature: Multiple Choice

“The Collar” by George Herbert
A Brief Guide to Metaphysical Poets
The term “metaphysical,” as applied to English and continental European poets of the
seventeenth century, was used by Augustan poets John Dryden and Samuel Johnson to reprove
those poets for their “unnaturalness.” As Goethe wrote, however, “the unnatural, that too is
natural,” and the metaphysical poets continue to be studied and revered for their intricacy and
originality.
John Donne, along with similar but distinct poets such as George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, and
Henry Vaughn, developed a poetic style in which philosophical and spiritual subjects were
approached with reason and often concluded in paradox. This group of writers established
meditation—based on the union of thought and feeling sought after in Jesuit Ignatian meditation
—as a poetic mode.
The metaphysical poets were eclipsed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by romantic
and Victorian poets, but twentieth century readers and scholars, seeing in the metaphysicals an
attempt to understand pressing political and scientific upheavals, engaged them with renewed
interest. In his essay “The Metaphysical Poets,” T. S. Eliot, in particular, saw in this group of
poets a capacity for “devouring all kinds of experience.”
John Donne (1572 – 1631) was the most influential metaphysical poet. His personal relationship
with spirituality is at the center of most of his work, and the psychological analysis and sexual
realism of his work marked a dramatic departure from traditional, genteel verse. His early work,
collected in Satires and in Songs and Sonnets, was released in an era of religious oppression. His
Holy Sonnets, which contains many of Donne’s most enduring poems, was released shortly after
his wife died in childbirth. The intensity with which Donne grapples with concepts of divinity
and mortality in the Holy Sonnets is exemplified in “Sonnet X [Death, be not proud],” “Sonnet
XIV [Batter my heart, three person’d God],” and “Sonnet XVII [Since she whom I loved hath
paid her last debt].”
George Herbert (1593 – 1633) and Andrew Marvell (1621 – 1678) were remarkable poets who
did not live to see a collection of their poems published. Herbert, the son of a prominent literary
patron to whom Donne dedicated his Holy Sonnets , spent the last years of his short life as a
rector in a small town. On his deathbed, he handed his poems to a friend with the request that
they be published only if they might aid “any dejected poor soul.” Marvell wrote politically
charged poems that would have cost him his freedom or his life had they been public. He was a
secretary to John Milton, and once Milton was imprisoned during the Restoration, Marvell
successfully petitioned to have the elder poet freed. His complex lyric and satirical poems were
collected after his death amid an air of secrecy.
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Student Activity—AP Literature: Multiple Choice
For further resources, consult a site devoted to Seventeenth Century British Poetry and a
site dedicated to classic English poetry and poets.
from http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5662
George Herbert (1593-1633)
George Herbert was born on April 3, 1593, the fifth son of an eminent Welsh family. His mother,
Magdalen Newport, held great patronage to distinguished literary figures such as John Donne,
who dedicated his Holy Sonnets to her. Herbert's father died when he was three, leaving his
mother with ten children, all of whom she was determined to educate and raise as loyal
Anglicans. Herbert left for Westminster School at age ten, and went on to become one of three to
win scholarships to Trinity College, Cambridge.
Herbert received two degrees (a B.A. in 1613 and an M.A. in 1616) and was elected a major
fellow of Trinity. Two years after his college graduation, he was appointed reader in Rhetoric at
Cambridge, and in 1620 he was elected public orator—a post wherein Herbert was called upon to
represent Cambridge at public occasions and that he described as “the finest place in the
university.” In 1624 and 1625 Herbert was elected as a representative to Parliament. He resigned
as orator in 1627, married Jane Danvers in 1629, and took holy orders in the Church of England
in 1630. Herbert spent the rest of his life as rector in Bemerton near Salisbury. While there, he
preached, wrote poetry, and helped rebuild the church out of his own funds.
Herbert's practical manual to country parsons, A Priest to the Temple (1652), exhibits the
intelligent devotion he showed to his parishoners. On his deathbed, he sent the manuscript of
The Temple to his close friend, Nicholas Ferrar, asking him to publish the poems only if he
thought they might do good to “any dejected poor soul.” He died of consumption in 1633 at the
age of forty and the book was published in the same year. The Temple met with enormous
popular acclaim—it had been reprinted twenty times by 1680.
Herbert's poems have been characterized by a deep religious devotion, linguistic precision,
metrical agility, and ingenious use of conceit. Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote of Herbert’s
diction that “Nothing can be more pure, manly, or unaffected,” and he is ranked with Donne as
one of the great Metaphysical poets.
from http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/628
Read the passage below and answer the guided questions before going on to the multiple
choice questions.
“The Collar”
By George Herbert
I STRUCK the board, and cried, ‘No more.

I will abroad.’
What? shall I ever sigh and pine?
My lines and life are free; free as the road,
5 Loose as the wind, as large as store.
Shall I be still in suit?
Have I no harvest but a thorn
To let me blood, and not restore
What I have lost with cordial fruit?
10 Sure there was wine
Before my sighs did dry it: there was corn
Before my tears did drown it.
Is the year only lost to me?
Have I no bays to crown it?
15 No flowers, no garlands gay? all blasted?
All wasted?
Not so, my heart: but there is fruit,
And thou hast hands.
Recover all thy sigh-blown age
20 On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute
Of what is fit, and not forsake thy cage,
Thy rope of sands,
Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee
Good cable, to enforce and draw,
25 And be thy law,
While thou didst wink and wouldst not see.
Away; take heed:
I will abroad.
Call in thy death’s head there: tie up thy fears.
30 He that forbears
To suit and serve his need,
Deserves his load.
But as I rav’d and grew more fierce and wild
At every word,
Me thought I heard one calling, ‘Child:’
35 And I reply’d, ‘My Lord.’
Guided Questions
1. First consider the title “The Collar.” The word “collar” does not appear anywhere in the
poem except in the title, but it is this word that informs the meaning. A collar is both a
concrete reality in the life of a priest as well as a symbol of status, responsibility, and
devotion. Think of the word in a broader context. What are the connotations of the word
“collar”?
2. In the 17th century, the word “collar” was pronounced more like “choler.” Look up the word
“choler.” What does it mean? What other word does “collar” almost sound like?
3. There appears to be only one speaker in the poem. Notice the structure of the lines. There
are questions followed by answers. To whom is the speaker addressing these questions?
And in general, what is he questioning?
4. In lines 1-16, the speaker (under the influence of his heart) wants to free himself from the
restrictions he feels constrain him. Quote a line or lines that suggest this desire to be free.
5. In lines 17-26, the speaker’s “mind” or rational side, seems to respond. What does the
response consist of?
6. But in lines 27-32, the “heart” seems to come back again with strong feelings. What does the
heart say? Cite words or lines that suggest a heightened feeling of anger and despair.
7. In general, the first 32 lines of the poem – almost all of the poem – seem to be expressed in
an attitude of rebellion and hostility. What might account for such an attitude, given what we
know about the speaker/poet?
8. The poem’s tone and temper shift dramatically in line 33. What happens in the last four
lines?
9. What intensely personal experience is recounted in this poem? Is it a unique experience that
only the clergy or those directly connected to a religious life know?
10. Who calls to the speaker in the conclusion of the poem? By what name is the speaker
addressed? And how does the speaker respond? What are the connotations of those names,
especially within this particular context?
Be prepared to discuss your responses with your classmates before responding to the
following multiple choice questions.
Choose the best answer to complete the following statements or answer the following
questions. In the space provided under each, as directed by your instructor, write at least
one complete sentence, using textual evidence, to support your answer.
1. The poem as a whole dramatizes

(A) a strained love affair
(B) the restraint of political freedom
(C) religious rebellion and reconciliation
(D) the strain of economic loss
(E) lack of parental understanding
Evidence:
2. It can be inferred that when the speaker says “No more” (line 1), he is turning away from
(A) self-discipline and sacrifice
(B) concern for other men’s opinions
(C) devotion to home and family
(D) patriotic loyalty
(E) childish fantasies
Evidence:
3. The speaker’s statements within the quotation marks (lines 1-32) are addressed to
(A) an aging friend
(B) his parent
(C) his loved one
(D) the Lord
(E) himself
Evidence:
4. In context, the phrase “as large as store” (line 5) is best interpreted to mean
(A) as full as abundance itself
(B) as expensive as a treasure
(C) as burdensome as can be imagined
(D) as majestic as a mountain
(E) as precious as a pleasant memory
Evidence:
5. The imagery in the phrase “no harvest but a thorn” (line 7) is especially appropriate
because it
(A) relates to the harsh side of a farmer’s life
(B) has spiritual as well as physical associations
(C) stresses the difference between the way a man views himself and the way others view
him
(D) emphasizes the harvest time or autumn of one’s life
(E) suggests the transcendence of man in nature
Evidence:
6. The tone of the speaker’s questions in lines 3-16 is primarily one of

(A) enthusiasm
(B) timidity
(C) haughtiness
(D) inquisitiveness
(E) bitterness
Evidence:
7. In the context of the poem, “bays,” “flowers,” and “garlands gay” (lines 14-15) imply
(A) youthfulness
(B) freedom from imprisonment
(C) secular pleasures
(D) the beauties of nature
(E) memories of the past
Evidence:
8. The change in tone from lines 1-16 to lines 17-32 can best be described as a change from
(A) restraint to freedom
(B) querying to assertion
(C) assertion to denial
(D) freedom to entrapment
(E) grief to joy
Evidence:
9. The speaker urges his heart to stop its “cold dispute” (line 20) so that he may
(A) regain his emotional composure
(B) become a religious convert
(C) seek the advice of more experienced philosophers
(D) enjoy natural pleasures with enthusiasm
(E) experience the simpler life of a farmer
Evidence:
10. The “cage” (line 21) represents a kind of prison formed by

(A) religious scruples
(B) secular tyranny
(C) human bestiality
(D) foolish pleasures
(E) material possessions
Evidence:
11. It can be inferred that the speaker’s desire to go abroad (lines 2 and 28) represents
(A) an initiation rite
(B) an abandonment of the strictures of conscience
(C) a suspect means of self-development
(D) a more mature way to attain freedom
(E) an escape from worldly temptations
Evidence:
12. The statement “tie up thy fear” (line 29) is best interpreted to mean
(A) analyze your aspirations
(B) dismiss your hopes
(C) overcome your anxieties
(D) be aware of your weaknesses
(E) maintain a humble stance
Evidence:
13. The pronoun “he” (line 30) refers to

(A) “death’s-head” (line 29)
(B) “one” (line 35)
(C) “My Lord” (line 36)
(D) anyone who has died
(E) any human being
Evidence:
14. What does the speaker wish for in lines 17-32?

(A) Aid from compassionate men
(B) Restoration of law and order
(C) Rededication to the Lord
(D) Unrestricted behavior
(E) More enlightened self-scrutiny
Evidence:
15. The major change in the speaker’s attitude occurs between lines
(A) 2 and 3
(B) 16 and 17
(C) 18 and 19
(D) 26 and 27
(E) 32 and 33
Evidence:
16. The tone of the address “Child” (line 35) is best described as one of
(A) benevolent paternalism
(B) near desperation
(C) uncertainty and fear
(D) delight and elation
(E) veiled contempt
Evidence:
17. At the end of the poem, the speaker’s attitude is one of

(A) defeat
(B) deceit
(C) acquiescence
(D) bewilderment
(E) anger
Evidence:
18. In relation to the entire poem, the title, “The Collar,” provides an emblem of
(A) the road to adventure
(B) the fear of death
(C) delight in earthly pleasures
(D) an artist’s search for perfection
(E) servitude to God
Evidence:
19. The “Collar” can be thought of as a pun on the word
(A) choral
(B) collapse
(C) calendar
(D) choler
(E) cholera
Evidence:
Read another example of 17th century metaphysical verse. Then read the short analysis
and follow the writing assignment directions, using the blank space provided.
“The Pulley”
By George Herbert
Paraphrase by Stanza
st
When God at first made man, 1 Stanza
Having a glasse of blessings standing by;
Let us (said he) poure on him all we can:
Let the worlds riches, which dispersed lie,
5 Contract into a span.
So strength first made a way; 2nd Stanza

Then beautie flow’d, then wisdome, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all his treasure
10 Rest in the bottome lay.
For if I should (said he) 3rd Stanza

Bestow this jewell also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts in stead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
15 So both should losers be.
Yet let him keep the rest, 4th Stanza

But keep them with repining restlesnesse:
Let him be rich and wearie, that at least,
If goodnesse leade him not, yet wearinesse
20 May tosse him to my breast.
Analysis
It would be difficult to explain Herbert’s poem without alluding to Pandora’s box of gifts. The
gods, especially Zeus, gave Pandora a box, warning her never to open it. Her curiosity overcame
her, however, and she opened it, releasing innumerable plagues and sorrows into the world. Only
Hope, the one good thing the box had contained, remained to comfort humanity in its
misfortunes. In this poem, the fusion of the classical and the Christian add richness and
dimension to the poem’s guiding metaphysical conceit, which is a pulley that draws man slowly
toward God.
Pulleys and hoists are mechanical devices aimed at assisting us with moving heavy loads
through a system of ropes and wheels (pulleys) to gain advantage. We should not be surprised at
the use of a pulley as a central conceit since the domain of physics and imagery from that
discipline would have felt quite comfortable to most of the metaphysical poets.
In the poem, the central idea posited by Herbert is that when God made man, he poured all his
blessings on him, including strength, beauty, wisdom, honor and pleasure. However, as in
Pandora’s box, one element remained. We are told that God “made a stay,” that is, He kept “Rest
in the bottome.” We might, in modern parlance, call this God’s ace. God is aware that if He were
to bestow this “jewel” (i.e. rest) on Man as well then Man would adore God’s gifts instead of
God Himself. God has withheld the gift of rest from man knowing fully well that His other
treasures would one day result in a spiritual restlessness and fatigue in man who, having tired of
His material gifts, would necessarily turn to God in his exhaustion. God, being omniscient and
prescient, knows that there is the possibility that even the wicked might not turn to Him, but He
knows that eventually mortal man is prone to lethargy; his lassitude, then, would be the leverage
He needed to toss man to His breast. In the context of the mechanical operation of a pulley, the
kind of leverage and force applied makes the difference for the weight being lifted. Applied to
man in this poem, we can say that the withholding of Rest by God is the leverage that will hoist
or draw mankind towards God when other means would make that task difficult. However, in the
first line of the last stanza, Herbert puns on the word “rest” suggesting that perhaps God will,
after all, let man “keep the rest,” but such a reading would seem to diminish the force behind the
poem’s conceit.
The importance of rest -and, by association, sleep- is an idea that was certainly uppermost in the
minds of Renaissance writers. Many of Shakespeare’s plays include references to sleep or the lack of
it as a punishment for sins committed. In Macbeth, for example, the central protagonist is said to
“lack the season of all natures, sleep” and both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are tormented by the
lack of sleep. Even Othello is most disconcerted by the fact that he is unable to sleep peacefully once
Iago has poisoned him with the possibility of his wife’s infidelity with Cassio.
Herbert’s Pulley, then, does not present a new concept. In fact, the ideas in the poem are quite
commonplace for seventeenth century religious verse. What is distinctly metaphysical about the
poem is that a religious notion is conveyed through a secular, scientific image that requires the
reader’s acquaintance with, and understanding of, some basic laws of physics.
by Mickey Wadia © 2001
from: http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herbert/wadia.htm
A pun is a figure of speech, or word play which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar
words within a phrase or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. A pun can
rely on the assumed equivalency of multiple similar words, of different shades of meaning of one
word, or of a literal meaning with a metaphor.
Examples of modern pun:
• Those who watch too much football will wear out their end zone.
• Some people really enjoy blowing air out of their lungs - I'm not a fan myself.
• In ancient times, seagoing vessels were much more fuel efficient. They got thousands of
miles to the galleon.
• Isn’t it strange that Sitting Bull fought at Custer’s Last Stand?
Read Herbert’s two poems again, “The Collar” and “The Pulley,” keeping in mind the idea of
“pun” as a device used by the poet to convey meaning. Then in the space below, write a
paragraph in which you analyze one pun (one instance of playing with words) and the effect the
use of such a device has on meaning. Remember to include your assertion about effect (topic
sentence), your textual evidence (direct quotations), and your commentary (explanation).
The Collar
by George Herbert (1593-1633)
I struck the board and cried, "No more; //

I will abroad! //
What? shall I ever sigh and pine? //
My lines and life are free, free as the road, //
Loose as the wind, as large as store. (5) //
Shall I be still in suit? //
Have I no harvest but a thorn //
To let me blood, and not restore //
What I have lost with cordial fruit? //
Sure there was wine (10) //
Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn //
Before my tears did drown it. //
Is the year only lost to me? //
Have I no bays to crown it, //
No flowers, no garlands gay? All blasted? (15) //
All wasted? //
Not so, my heart; but there is fruit, //
And thou hast hands. //
Recover all thy sigh-blown age //
On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute (20) //
Of what is fit and not. Forsake thy cage, //
Thy rope of sands, //
Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee //
Good cable, to enforce and draw, //
And be thy law, (25) //
While thou didst wink and wouldst not see. //
Away! take heed; //
I will abroad. //
Call in thy death's-head there; tie up thy fears. //
He that forbears (30) //
To suit and serve his need, //
Deserves his load." //
But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild //
At every word, //
Methought I heard one calling, Child! (35) //
And I replied, My Lord. //
1. Lines 1-31. In lines 1-32 (in the long segment that is enclosed
in quotation marks) the speaker reports statements that he made.
To whom was he talking when he made those statements?
a. to himself only
b. to himself and Satan
c. to Satan only
d. to himself and God
e. to God only
f. to himself, God, and Satan
2. All Lines. What does the speaker finally view as the proper rule
for life on earth?
a. seize the day
b. subordinate this world to the next world
c. hate thyself
d. love thyself
e. find God within thyself
3. Lines 1-36. In the poem as a whole, the speaker suggests that

God is:
a. a cruel sadist
b. a careful and strict parent
c. an enslaver
d. an uncompromising enforcer of rules
4. All Lines. What sort of collar does the poem describe?

a. one that protects
b. one that strangles
c. one that burdens down
5. Line 1. When the speaker says, "I struck the board ...," what
does he mean by "board"?
a. board on an imprisoning wall
b. table
c. board used to administer beatings
6. Line 2. The speaker said, "I will abroad!" What did he mean?
a. I will leave the country
b. I will travel freely here and there
c. I will violate my apprenticeship
7. Line 4. When the speaker said, "My lines and life are free ...,"
what did he mean by "lines"?
a. directions
b. speeches
c. stages of development
8. Lines 4-5. When the speaker said, "My lines and life are
free ..., as large as store," what did he mean by "store"?
a. a shop
b. a burying-place
c. abundance
9. Line 6. The speaker asked, "Shall I be still in suit?" Which of

the following provides the best classification for "still"?
a. familiar word with a familiar meaning
b. familiar word with an unfamiliar meaning
c. pun
d. word used metaphorically
10. Line 6. The speaker asked, "Shall I be still in suit?" What did
he mean by "in suit"?
a. in religious dress
b. in prison uniform
c. in livery
d. in attendance as a suitor
11. Lines 7-8. The speaker asked, "Have I no harvest but a thorn /
To let me blood ... ?" Which of the following gives the sense of the
speaker's question?
a. Have I no harvest but rather a thorn to let me blood?
b. Have I no harvest to let me blood except a thorn?
c. Have I no harvest except the harvest of a thorn to let me
blood?
12. Line 7. Of what was the speaker thinking when he mentioned

a "thorn"?
a. his life as a shepherd
b. the sufferings of Jesus
c. his being fed with thorn-like, unnourishing food
13. Lines 7-9. The speaker asked:

Have I no harvest but a thorn
To let me blood, and not restore
What I have lost with cordial fruit?
The second clause, "and not restore / What I have lost with
cordial fruit," is very difficult. Why is it difficult? Choose the best
answer from the following.
a. the speaker omitted words
b. the speaker omitted words and arranged words in a unusual
way
c. the speaker omitted words and used archaic words
d. the speaker used "What" without providing an appropriate
antecedent for it
14. Line 9. When the speaker referred to "cordial fruit," what did
he mean?
a. sweet fruit
b. soft fruit
c. restoring fruit
d. alcoholic fruit
e. warm fruit juice
15. Lines 10-12. The speaker said:

Sure there was wine
Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn
Before my tears did drown it.
Which is the most appropriate comment on these lines?
a. the lines include hyperbole
b. the lines include hyperbole and metaphor
c. the lines include hyperbole, metaphor, and repetition
d. the lines include hyperbole, metaphor, and antithesis
16. Line 15. The narrator asked of the bays, flowers, and
garlands, "All blasted?" What did he mean by "blasted"?
a. unearthed
b. mown down
c. withered
d. burned
17. Lines 17-20. The speaker said:

but there is fruit,
And thou hast hands.
Recover all thy sigh-blown age
On double pleasures ….
Which of the following best gives the sense of these lines?
a. you can make up for time lost
b. you can get revenge on those who cheated you
c. you can get some food finally
18. Lines 20-21. The speaker said, "leave thy cold dispute / Of
what is fit and not." What did he mean by "cold dispute / Of"?
a. logical reasoning on
b. angry attack concerning
c. icy chastisements about
19. Lines 21-22. The speaker said, "Forsake thy cage, / Thy rope
of sands ...." What, according to the speaker, has created the
"cage" and "rope"?
a. the mind of God
b. Holy Scripture
c. the Church
d. the speaker's own mind
20. Line 27. The speaker said, "Away! take heed; / I will abroad."
To whom was he talking when he said "Away!"?
a. to himself
b. to God
c. to the "cage" and "rope"
21. Line 29. The speaker said, "Call in thy death's-head there; tie
up thy fears." To what was he referring with the word "death's-
head"?
a. a threat of execution
b. his own unhealthy looking face
c. a reminder of death
22. Line 29. The speaker said, "Call in thy death's-head there; tie
up thy fears." What did he mean by "fears"?
a. feelings of fear
b. means of provoking fear
c. fear-filled persons
23. Line 31. The speaker declared,

He that forbears
To suit and serve his need,
Deserves his load.
What did the speaker mean by "To suit and serve his need"?
a. to suit his need and to serve his need
b. to dress himself well and to serve his need
c. to arm himself and to serve his need
24. Line 33. The speaker says:

But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild
At every word,
Methought I heard one calling, Child!
What does he mean by "raved."
a. talked loudly
b. cried out in rage
c. grew proud of my own powers
d. talked like a mad person
25. Line 35. The speaker says,

But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild
At every word,
Methought I heard one calling, Child!
Why does the speaker use "Methought" rather than "I thought"?
a. "Methought" has a meaning different from that of "I thought"
b. "Methought" is a word associated with Scripture
c. "Methought" is an archaic word and suggests that the speaker
is moving backward in time
COMMENTARIES
1. Lines 1-31. The best answer is answer "d." The speaker was
usually talking to himself but was at times addressing God. For
example, he was talking to himself when he said, "Forsake thy
cage" and when he said, "Not so, my heart; but there is fruit, /
And thou has hands." He was addressing God when he said,
"Call in they death's head there; tie up thy fears" and probably in
such lines as "No more; / I will abroad."
2. All Lines. The best answer is answer "b": "subordinate this

world to the next world." None of the other four answers is at all
fitting. In the final line, when he addresses God as "My Lord," the
speaker is accepting the restrictions he had been threatening to
reject. The restrictions, by implication, are the traditional
restrictions of Christianity: they require the Christian to die to this
world. Consider the words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount
(Matthew 7: 19-21):
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth

nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor
steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
3. All Lines. The best answer is answer "b": "a careful and strict
parent." None of the other three answers is at all fitting. In the last
four lines the speaker expresses a conviction that God has been
attending to him and that God thinks of him as his child. He also
expresses severe disapproval of his outburst against God's
restrictions. He says he "raved and grew more fierce and wild / At
every word." See question and commentary 24.
4. All Lines. The best answer is answer "a": "one that protects."
Neither of the other two answers is fitting. The collar the speaker
has in mind is the kind of iron collar prisoners wore. Such a collar
was a common symbol of the rules of God. The collar, if accepted
by the Christian as a willing prisoner, protects the person from
going astray and losing his or her immortal soul.
5. Line 1. Answer "b" is correct. The speaker's "board" means

"table."
6. Line 2. The best answer is "b": "I will travel freely here and
there." In Early Modern English the word "abroad" basically
means "at large," "here and there," or "round about in the wide
world." The speaker was saying, in effect, "I'll go anywhere and
wherever I please."
7. Line 4. Answer "a" ("directions") is best. In saying "My lines

and life are free ...," the speaker meant, the directions in which he
could travel, and take his life, were unlimited, unrestricted.
8. Lines 4-5. Answer "c" is best. The word "store" means "large
accumulation," "abundance." The speaker was suggesting, the
possibilities for his life are as great as abundance itself, perfect
abundance.
9. Line 6. Answer "b" is best. The speaker's "still" is a familiar

world with an unfamiliar meaning. Here "still" has a meaning it
frequently has in Early Modern English: "always" or "forever."
10. Line 6. Answer "d" is correct: "in suit" means "in attendance
as a suitor." In using the phrase "in suit," the speaker was
probably thinking of himself as one always praying to God for
salvation in the next world.
11. Lines 7-8. Answer "c" is correct. The speaker meant: Have I
no harvest except the harvest of a thorn to let me blood? The
speaker was protesting against the absence of pleasurable
worldly reward for his sacrifices. He wanted a harvest full of joy,
perhaps of self-indulgence, not a harvest of additional sacrifices.
See also question 12.
12. Line 7. Answer "b," "the sufferings of Jesus," is best. The

mention of a thorn is an allusion to the crown of thorns put on the
head of Jesus prior to his crucifixion. To be saved, the Christian
must emulate Christ and must accept a crown of thorns, a life of
suffering, in this world.
13. Lines 8-9. Answer "b" is best. The speaker omitted words.
The speaker also arranged words in a way that might be
confusing. Here, with moved and added words in boldface, is a
version with additional words and words rearranged: Have I no
harvest but a thorn to let me blood and not a harvest to restore
with cordial fruit what blood I have lost? (The original reads: Have
I no harvest but a thorn / To let me blood, and not restore / What I
have lost with cordial fruit?") Additional note: the phrase "let me
blood" means "make blood run from me."
14. Line 9. Answer "c" is correct. Something "cordial" is

something restorative.
15. Lines 10-12. Answer "c" is best. The lines include hyperbole,
metaphor, and repetition. The speaker was using hyperbole in
indicating that he, by his sighs, dried all wine and, by his tears,
flooded all "corn" (that is, wheat). He used metaphor in saying
that his "sighs did dry" wine and that his "tears did drown" corn.
Had he spoken literally, he would have said, his pursuit of God's
grace (from which his sighs and tears flowed) caused wine and
bread (the product of "corn") to cease to exist for him; the pursuit
of grace did so by causing him to fast, thus to separate himself
from wine and bread. As for repetition, the speaker employed
repetition of words and of a syntactical pattern. In "there was corn
/ before my tears did drown it," he repeated words from, and the
verbal organization of, "there was wine / Before my sighs did dry
it." Also, in the initial consonant of "drown" he repeated the initial
consonant of "dry." The speaker was using the rhetorical
techniques of a public orator in order to persuade himself and stir
himself to action.
16. Line 15. Answer "c" is correct. The speaker's "blasted" means
"withered."
17. Lines 17-20. The best answer is "a": "you can make up for
lost time." The speaker was saying: There's still plenty of fruit to
be had and you have hands to pluck it; so you can make up for all
the time you've lost to sacrifices ("recover all thy sigh-blown age")
by giving yourself double shares of pleasure in the here and now.
18. Lines 20-21. The best answer is "a": "logical reasoning on."
The speaker was rejecting his habit of reasoning logically or
coldly about propriety in behavior. He wanted to act impulsively,
spontaneously, self-indulgently, with no inner debate.
19. Lines 21-22. Answer "d"--"the speaker's own mind"--is correct.

This "cage" and "rope," the speaker said, "petty thoughts had
made." The "petty thoughts" must have been thoughts of his own
mind, not of the mind of God.
20. Line 27. Answer "a" is best. In saying "Away!" the speaker
was exhorting himself to take flight. "Away!" is similar to modern
English "Let's go!" (The speaker probably intended his "take
heed" for God, however.)
21. Line 29. Answer "c" is correct. A "death's-head" is a momento

mori, a reminder of death.
22. Line 29. Answer "b," "means of provoking fear," is correct.

When he said, presumably to God, "tie up thy fears," the speaker
meant, "You might as well stop your efforts to scare me because
they're not going to work with me anymore."
23. Line 30. Answer "a" is best. By "To suit and serve his need,"
the speaker probably meant: to suit--to act in accord with--his
need and to serve his need. The speaker's desire "to suit" his
own needs opposes his knowledge that he ought to be "in suit" to
God.
24. Line 33. Answer "d" is correct. By "raved" the speaker

means, "talked like a mad person." To rave is to talk wildly, like
one delirious or insane.
25. Line 35. Answer "a" is best. "Methought" has a meaning

different from that of "I thought." "Methought" means, "it seemed
to me." The "Methought" suggests that the speaker's mind was in
a dreamlike or trancelike state. Perhaps the speaker believes his
Christian self presented to his irreverent, raving self the image of
God as a caring parent. If so, the speaker is remembering his
own resources as a Christian, his better self, which could move
him back to the will of God, the way and the light.

MC The Collar Student 3

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English

AP* Literature: Multiple Choice

I STRUCK the board, and cried, ‘No more.

1. The poem as a whole dramatizes

6. The tone of the speaker’s questions in lines 3-16 is primarily one of

10. The “cage” (line 21) represents a kind of prison formed by

13. The pronoun “he” (line 30) refers to

14. What does the speaker wish for in lines 17-32?

17. At the end of the poem, the speaker’s attitude is one of

So strength first made a way; 2nd Stanza

For if I should (said he) 3rd Stanza

Yet let him keep the rest, 4th Stanza

by Mickey Wadia © 2001

Examples of modern pun:

I struck the board and cried, "No more; //

3. Lines 1-36. In the poem as a whole, the speaker suggests that

4. All Lines. What sort of collar does the poem describe?

9. Line 6. The speaker asked, "Shall I be still in suit?" Which of

12. Line 7. Of what was the speaker thinking when he mentioned

13. Lines 7-9. The speaker asked:

15. Lines 10-12. The speaker said:

17. Lines 17-20. The speaker said:

23. Line 31. The speaker declared,

24. Line 33. The speaker says:

25. Line 35. The speaker says,

2. All Lines. The best answer is answer "b": "subordinate this

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth

5. Line 1. Answer "b" is correct. The speaker's "board" means

7. Line 4. Answer "a" ("directions") is best. In saying "My lines

9. Line 6. Answer "b" is best. The speaker's "still" is a familiar

12. Line 7. Answer "b," "the sufferings of Jesus," is best. The

14. Line 9. Answer "c" is correct. Something "cordial" is

19. Lines 21-22. Answer "d"--"the speaker's own mind"--is correct.

21. Line 29. Answer "c" is correct. A "death's-head" is a momento

22. Line 29. Answer "b," "means of provoking fear," is correct.

24. Line 33. Answer "d" is correct. By "raved" the speaker

25. Line 35. Answer "a" is best. "Methought" has a meaning

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