REVISE – Song

Metaphysical poetry is full of references to various fields of knowledge. Identify the relevant semantic fields of the following images from the poem. Write the correct letters (A-E) in the gaps.

1 Falling star       ________
2 Mandrake root       ________
3 Devil's foot       ________
4 Mermaid's singing       ________
5 Pilgrimage       ________

A Superstition
B Travel
C Alchemy
D Astronomy
E Mythology

Complete the text with the words given. Then look at the prompts in brackets and write some extra reflections in your exercise book. You can use the final text as revision material for your test.
John Donne's Song is a perfect example of Metaphysical poetry. It shows intelligence, playful thinking, and ________ images. The poem starts with a series of ________ like 'Go, and catch a falling star,' which creates a challenging tone. Donne is not asking politely; he is giving out difficult tasks, almost daring the reader to prove him wrong. (Find another example of a difficult task mentioned.)
The poem is ________. Donne fits many ideas and feelings into just three short stanzas. There is no wasted language, each word matters. The poem begins in ________, drawing the reader into the addresser's world immediately.
The poem is full of ________. The idea of finding a truly faithful woman seems impossible. (Find other paradoxes in the poem.)
Finally, the poem uses ________, which are extended and surprising comparisons. Finding a true woman is compared to catching a falling star. (Refer to the first stanza and provide another example.) These comparisons show the speaker's ________ view of love and relationships. The strange nature of the comparisons highlights how difficult he thinks the task is.

Read the sentences and choose the correct alternative to describe the tone in each stanza.
1 By mentioning four impossible tasks for the reader to do, there is a certain ________ in the first stanza, which does not hide the ________ of the poet.
2 In the second stanza, adding the element of a long, hard journey, the poet amplifies the sense of difficulty and makes the prospect of finding a faithful woman seem even more remote. The tone is more ________.
3 There's a flicker of ________ at the beginning of the third stanza. The line, 'If thou find'st one, let me know' suggests the speaker would be interested to know if such a woman existed. However, the final lines, 'Yet she / Will be / False, ere I come, to two, or three,' are the most ________ in the entire poem. Female faithfulness seems an impossibility.

Choose the correct alternative to complete the description of the poem's structure.

John Donne's Song is divided into three ________. Each ________ consists of ________ with a rhyme scheme of ________ and a rhyming ________. The ________ structure contrasts with the overall playful ________ of the poem.