Robert Frost – Birches – Exam Based MCQs
1. “Birches” is written by: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Wallace Stevens
B) Robert Frost
C) Ezra Pound
D) Carl Sandburg
Ans: B) Robert Frost
2. “Birches” was first published in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 1915
B) 1923
C) 1905
D) 1930
Ans: A) 1915
3. The poem first appeared in: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Poetry Magazine
B) The New Yorker
C) The Atlantic Monthly
D) Harper’s Weekly
Ans: C) The Atlantic Monthly
4. “Birches” was later included in Frost’s collection: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) North of Boston
B) Mountain Interval
C) New Hampshire
D) A Further Range
Ans: B) Mountain Interval
5. “Birches” was collected in Mountain Interval in: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) 1916
B) 1912
C) 1928
D) 1942
Ans: A) 1916
6. The poem “Birches” consists of: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 14 lines
B) 40 lines
C) 59 lines
D) 72 lines
Ans: C) 59 lines
7. The poem is mainly written in: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Heroic couplets
B) Blank verse
C) Free verse only
D) Terza rima
Ans: B) Blank verse
8. The poem begins with the speaker seeing: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) A frozen river
B) A burning field
C) Birch trees bent left and right
D) A flock of birds
Ans: C) Birch trees bent left and right
9. At first, the speaker likes to imagine that the birches were bent by: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) An ice storm
B) Some boy swinging them
C) A farmer cutting them
D) A strong wind
Ans: B) Some boy swinging them
10. The actual cause of the bent birches, according to “Truth,” is: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) A playful child
B) A passing traveler
C) A storm of rain and ice
D) A lumberman
Ans: C) A storm of rain and ice
11. One central theme of “Birches” is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Colonial conquest
B) Imagination versus reality
C) Urban corruption only
D) Political revolution
Ans: B) Imagination versus reality
12. The line “But I was going to say when Truth broke in” suggests Frost’s contrast between: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Faith and science
B) Politics and poetry
C) Fancy and factual explanation
D) Love and war
Ans: C) Fancy and factual explanation
13. The speaker says he prefers to think that a boy bent the birches because: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) It is scientifically true
B) It is more poetic and human
C) He dislikes children
D) He hates nature
Ans: B) It is more poetic and human
14. Frost describes the ice-covered branches as if they were shedding: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Leaves
B) Flowers
C) Crystal shells
D) Golden bark
Ans: C) Crystal shells
15. The heaps of broken ice are compared to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Fallen stars
B) Broken glass
C) Silver coins
D) Dead birds
Ans: B) Broken glass
16. The imagined boy in the poem is described as one: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Too clever for games
B) Too far from town to learn baseball
C) Living in a city park
D) Afraid of trees
Ans: B) Too far from town to learn baseball
17. The speaker himself says that he once was: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) A farmer of birches
B) A swinger of birches
C) A cutter of trees
D) A village teacher
Ans: B) A swinger of birches
18. The wish to swing birches again is linked with the speaker’s desire to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Become a child permanently
B) Escape the burdens of life for a while
C) Travel to another country
D) Become wealthy
Ans: B) Escape the burdens of life for a while
19. The line “It’s when I’m weary of considerations” suggests: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Joy in urban life
B) Tiredness with complicated adult realities
C) Interest in politics
D) Scientific curiosity
Ans: B) Tiredness with complicated adult realities
20. The famous line “Earth’s the right place for love” shows that the speaker ultimately: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Wants to remain in heaven forever
B) Rejects all earthly life
C) Values earthly life despite wanting temporary escape
D) Believes love is impossible
Ans: C) Values earthly life despite wanting temporary escape
21. The line “One could do worse than be a swinger of birches” suggests: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Disapproval of childhood games
B) Approval of balance between play, escape, and return
C) Criticism of rural life
D) Hatred of imagination
Ans: B) Approval of balance between play, escape, and return
22. The poem is set primarily in a: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Busy city street
B) Seashore
C) New England rural landscape
D) Desert plain
Ans: C) New England rural landscape
23. Frost’s tone in “Birches” is best described as: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Harshly satirical
B) Reflective, wistful, and playful
C) Purely tragic
D) Violently angry
Ans: B) Reflective, wistful, and playful
24. The poem “Birches” is best seen as a blend of nature description and: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Political speech
B) Philosophical reflection
C) Historical chronicle
D) Religious sermon only
Ans: B) Philosophical reflection
25. Frost’s use of the word “Truth” with a capital T implies: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) A simple scientific fact breaking poetic fancy
B) A religious dogma only
C) A comic joke only
D) A political slogan
Ans: A) A simple scientific fact breaking poetic fancy
26. Which best describes the movement of the poem? (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) From politics to history
B) From observation to memory to meditation
C) From war to peace
D) From city life to commerce
Ans: B) From observation to memory to meditation
27. The birch tree in the poem becomes a symbol of: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Industrial progress
B) Escape and return
C) War and violence
D) Religious ritual only
Ans: B) Escape and return
28. Frost does NOT ultimately want: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) To swing a birch
B) To leave earth forever
C) To rest from life for a while
D) To remember childhood
Ans: B) To leave earth forever
29. “Birches” is often cited as an example of Frost’s: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Pure symbolism only
B) Conversational blank verse
C) Classical epic form
D) Dramatic monologue only
Ans: B) Conversational blank verse
30. The poem suggests that childhood play can be a form of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Mere laziness
B) Imaginative freedom and self-renewal
C) Social punishment
D) Pure violence
Ans: B) Imaginative freedom and self-renewal
31. The image of climbing “Toward heaven” but coming back suggests: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Permanent transcendence
B) Balanced transcendence without rejecting life
C) Religious conversion only
D) Fear of nature
Ans: B) Balanced transcendence without rejecting life
32. The speaker says he’d like to get away from earth: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Forever
B) Awhile
C) Only in winter
D) Because he hates love
Ans: B) Awhile
33. The phrase “inner dome of heaven” refers to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) A church building
B) The arched canopy of ice and sky
C) A political hall
D) A mountain cave
Ans: B) The arched canopy of ice and sky
34. The poem’s rural boy is significant because he: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Represents scientific truth
B) Represents resourceful imaginative play
C) Represents urban sophistication
D) Represents political rebellion
Ans: B) Represents resourceful imaginative play
35. The phrase “too far from town to learn baseball” mainly emphasizes: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Social isolation and simple rural life
B) Hatred of sport
C) Urban education
D) Political alienation
Ans: A) Social isolation and simple rural life
36. “Birches” is not mainly a poem about: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Nature
B) Childhood memory
C) Escape and return
D) Urban industrial labor
Ans: D) Urban industrial labor
37. The poem’s form supports its meaning by using: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Rigid rhyme and stanza limits only
B) Flowing meditative blank verse
C) Comic limericks
D) Epic catalogues
Ans: B) Flowing meditative blank verse
38. Frost’s speaker is best seen as: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Purely realistic and anti-imagination
B) Completely escapist
C) Balancing realism with imaginative longing
D) Entirely comic
Ans: C) Balancing realism with imaginative longing
39. “Birches” is often interpreted as a poem of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Escape tempered by acceptance
B) Total social despair
C) War heroism
D) Religious doctrine only
Ans: A) Escape tempered by acceptance
40. The most suitable label for the poem is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Reflective nature lyric
B) Mock epic
C) Gothic horror
D) Satiric ballad
Ans: A) Reflective nature lyric
41. Which statement is TRUE about “Birches”? (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) It is a strict sonnet
B) It was first published in 1915
C) It is a dramatic play
D) It is about city life only
Ans: B) It was first published in 1915
42. Frost’s attitude toward truth in this poem is that: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Truth must always replace imagination
B) Imagination has no value
C) Poetic imagination can coexist with factual truth
D) Nature is entirely false
Ans: C) Poetic imagination can coexist with factual truth
43. The wish to “go by climbing a birch tree” is mainly symbolic of: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Social ambition
B) Temporary transcendence
C) Economic progress
D) Physical exercise only
Ans: B) Temporary transcendence
44. The poem’s conclusion is optimistic because it: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Rejects earth
B) Accepts a meaningful return to earthly life
C) Chooses fantasy over everything
D) Destroys the image of childhood
Ans: B) Accepts a meaningful return to earthly life
45. The poem is especially associated with Frost’s ability to combine: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Rural image and philosophical reflection
B) Satire and politics only
C) Myth and epic warfare
D) Religion and church ritual only
Ans: A) Rural image and philosophical reflection
46. The speaker’s dream “to go back to be” refers to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Becoming a politician
B) Returning to childhood simplicity
C) Leaving the countryside
D) Rejecting memory
Ans: B) Returning to childhood simplicity
47. “Birches” is most often read as affirming: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Balance between imagination and earthly commitment
B) Permanent escape from life
C) Superiority of science alone
D) Uselessness of childhood
Ans: A) Balance between imagination and earthly commitment
48. Frost’s “Birches” is a poem in which: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) The speaker values both truth and poetic imagining
B) The speaker hates nature
C) The speaker rejects memory
D) The speaker chooses heaven over earth
Ans: A) The speaker values both truth and poetic imagining
49. The best short critical description of “Birches” is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) A blank-verse nature poem about imagination, memory, and escape
B) A war sonnet
C) A social comedy
D) A medieval elegy
Ans: A) A blank-verse nature poem about imagination, memory, and escape
50. The overall message of “Birches” is that: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Fantasy should replace all truth
B) Earthly life is meaningless
C) Childhood should never end
D) One may seek temporary imaginative escape yet still affirm life on earth
Ans: D) One may seek temporary imaginative escape yet still affirm life on earth
Let me know your doubts