William Wordsworth – Ode: Intimations of Immortality – Exam Based MCQs
1. Ode: Intimations of Immortality is written by: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
B) William Wordsworth
C) John Keats
D) P. B. Shelley
Ans: B) William Wordsworth
2. The poem was first published in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 1798
B) 1805
C) 1819
D) 1807
Ans: D) 1807
3. The poem’s full title includes the phrase: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) “from Recollections of Early Childhood”
B) “from Memories of Old Age”
C) “from Songs of Experience”
D) “from Lyrical Ballads”
Ans: A) “from Recollections of Early Childhood”
4. Intimations of Immortality consists of: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) 7 stanzas
B) 9 stanzas
C) 11 stanzas
D) 14 stanzas
Ans: C) 11 stanzas
5. The poem opens with the line: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) “There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,”
B) “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,”
C) “I wandered lonely as a cloud,”
D) “O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,”
Ans: A) “There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,”
6. The poem is commonly known as the: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) “Grecian Ode”
B) “Autumn Ode”
C) “Skylark Ode”
D) “Immortality Ode”
Ans: D) “Immortality Ode”
7. The central concern of the poem is the loss of: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Political freedom
B) Childhood vision/glory in nature
C) Military power
D) Scientific knowledge
Ans: B) Childhood vision/glory in nature
8. The poem argues that the child retains a sense of: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Greed and ambition
B) Pure skepticism
C) Pre-existence / immortality of the soul
D) Total ignorance
Ans: C) Pre-existence / immortality of the soul
9. The line “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting” suggests: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) The soul existed before birth
B) The child is born evil
C) Nature is meaningless
D) Education destroys memory
Ans: A) The soul existed before birth
10. The phrase “trailing clouds of glory” refers to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) War and smoke
B) Industrial pollution
C) Rain clouds in the valley
D) The child’s divine origin carried from heaven
Ans: D) The child’s divine origin carried from heaven
11. “Shades of the prison-house” suggests that growing up brings: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Complete freedom
B) Increasing limitations and worldly constraints
C) Magical powers
D) Total silence
Ans: B) Increasing limitations and worldly constraints
12. In tone, the poem moves from grief to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Sarcasm
B) Horror
C) Consolation/affirmation
D) Political propaganda
Ans: C) Consolation/affirmation
13. The poem is associated with which literary movement? (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Romanticism
B) Restoration
C) Neo-classicism
D) Modernism
Ans: A) Romanticism
14. The poem is best described as an: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Elegy only
B) Ballad
C) Sonnet sequence
D) Irregular ode (Pindaric/ode-like)
Ans: D) Irregular ode (Pindaric/ode-like)
15. Wordsworth suggests that the child is naturally closer to: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Politics
B) The divine/heavenly origin
C) Industry
D) Urban life
Ans: B) The divine/heavenly origin
16. The child is called “Mighty Prophet! Seer blest!” because: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) He rules a kingdom
B) He writes laws
C) He carries traces of immortality and insight
D) He defeats enemies
Ans: C) He carries traces of immortality and insight
17. In the poem, Nature is presented mainly as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) A teacher/comforter and source of joy
B) A mechanical machine only
C) A villain plotting revenge
D) Completely irrelevant to humans
Ans: A) A teacher/comforter and source of joy
18. The poem emphasizes that even after the loss of early glory, the adult can gain: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Total forgetfulness
B) Wealth and titles
C) Military victory
D) “Strength in what remains behind” (mature consolation)
Ans: D) “Strength in what remains behind” (mature consolation)
19. The poem’s main speaker feels that “the things which I have seen I now can see no more” because: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) He is physically blind
B) The spiritual radiance of childhood has faded
C) The village was destroyed
D) He moved to a foreign country
Ans: B) The spiritual radiance of childhood has faded
20. “The Child is father of the Man” is a key epigraph idea connected to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Revenge tragedy
B) Industrial revolution
C) Continuity between childhood and adulthood
D) Scientific determinism only
Ans: C) Continuity between childhood and adulthood
21. The poem was completed in: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) 1804
B) 1812
C) 1795
D) 1830
Ans: A) 1804
22. The first part (early stanzas) was drafted around: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 1788
B) 1815
C) 1822
D) 1802
Ans: D) 1802
23. The poem celebrates childhood chiefly as a period of: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Political activity
B) Intense spiritual perception and joy
C) Economic success
D) Scientific experimentation
Ans: B) Intense spiritual perception and joy
24. The poem’s philosophical idea of the soul’s origin is closest to: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Pure materialism
B) Nihilism
C) Platonic pre-existence
D) Scientific positivism
Ans: C) Platonic pre-existence
25. A major technique of the poem is: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Meditation (reflective lyric)
B) Detective narration
C) Epistolary letters only
D) Stage dialogue only
Ans: A) Meditation (reflective lyric)
26. The poem ultimately finds comfort in: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Riches
B) Fame
C) War victories
D) Memory, sympathy, and mature insight (“philosophic mind”)
Ans: D) Memory, sympathy, and mature insight (“philosophic mind”)
27. The “philosophic mind” in the poem suggests: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Total rejection of feeling
B) Mature understanding that transforms grief into strength
C) Love of machines only
D) Purely comic attitude
Ans: B) Mature understanding that transforms grief into strength
28. The poem’s movement from lament to affirmation is most typical of: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Satire
B) Epic
C) Ode/meditative lyric
D) Detective fiction
Ans: C) Ode/meditative lyric
29. The poem’s opening sorrow comes from the sense that Nature’s: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) “glory and freshness” no longer appear as before
B) seasons have stopped
C) rivers have dried up
D) mountains have disappeared
Ans: A) “glory and freshness” no longer appear as before
30. The poem is often read as blending lyric with: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Scientific textbook style
B) Political manifesto
C) Detective plot
D) Philosophical/theological reflection
Ans: D) Philosophical/theological reflection
31. “Heaven lies about us in our infancy” means: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Children live in palaces
B) Childhood is close to spiritual/divine reality
C) Infants control nature
D) Heaven is a physical place near homes
Ans: B) Childhood is close to spiritual/divine reality
32. The poem’s view of childhood opposes the idea that the child is: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Imaginative
B) Joyful
C) A blank slate with no inner light
D) Sensitive to nature
Ans: C) A blank slate with no inner light
33. The poet’s final mood can best be described as: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Quiet confidence and gratitude
B) Total despair
C) Comic mockery
D) Violent anger
Ans: A) Quiet confidence and gratitude
34. The poem is NOT primarily concerned with: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Childhood
B) Nature
C) Memory
D) War strategy
Ans: D) War strategy
35. The poem is a key text for studying Wordsworth’s idea of: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Courtly love
B) The growth of the mind through nature and memory
C) Urban realism
D) Colonial travel writing
Ans: B) The growth of the mind through nature and memory
36. The poem’s structure is best described as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Strictly uniform stanzas of equal length
B) A single continuous paragraph
C) Numbered stanzas of varying length (irregular structure)
D) A sonnet chain of 14-line units
Ans: C) Numbered stanzas of varying length (irregular structure)
37. The poem’s “recollections” function mainly as: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) A source of consolation and meaning
B) A legal record
C) A comic trick
D) A newspaper report
Ans: A) A source of consolation and meaning
38. Which term best fits the poem’s reflective style? (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Mock-heroic
B) Gothic
C) Picaresque
D) Meditative
Ans: D) Meditative
39. The poem suggests that adult “custom” and “business” tend to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Increase wonder
B) Dull the soul’s early vision
C) Make everyone immortal
D) Strengthen divine memory
Ans: B) Dull the soul’s early vision
40. The poem’s speaker finally affirms that even common things can bring: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Only boredom
B) Only fear
C) Deep thoughts and “tears” of human sympathy
D) Pure hatred
Ans: C) Deep thoughts and “tears” of human sympathy
41. The poem’s treatment of nature is closest to Wordsworth’s idea of nature as: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Moral/spiritual guide
B) Mere decoration only
C) A hostile enemy always
D) A scientific laboratory only
Ans: A) Moral/spiritual guide
42. The poem is often contrasted with Keats’s odes because Wordsworth’s ode is more: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Satirical
B) Comic
C) Purely narrative
D) Philosophical and autobiographical
Ans: D) Philosophical and autobiographical
43. The “glory” in the poem is chiefly a metaphor for: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Money and power
B) Spiritual radiance/vision of childhood
C) Crown and throne
D) Military honour
Ans: B) Spiritual radiance/vision of childhood
44. The poem teaches that the adult can still approach immortality through: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Court judgments
B) Business success
C) Memory, love, and reflective wisdom
D) Conquering nations
Ans: C) Memory, love, and reflective wisdom
45. The poem’s most fitting genre label is: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Philosophical ode
B) Mock epic
C) Pastoral drama
D) Travel diary
Ans: A) Philosophical ode
46. Wordsworth’s final message is closest to: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) “Nothing matters”
B) “Childhood is useless”
C) “Nature is dead”
D) “Even after loss, life can be meaningful through deeper insight”
Ans: D) “Even after loss, life can be meaningful through deeper insight”
47. The poem best supports the Romantic belief in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) City superiority
B) The imagination and inner life
C) Machinery as salvation
D) Pure rationalism only
Ans: B) The imagination and inner life
48. The poet’s grief is triggered even though Nature is still: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Completely destroyed
B) No longer beautiful to anyone
C) Beautiful, but changed in how the adult perceives it
D) Frozen forever
Ans: C) Beautiful, but changed in how the adult perceives it
49. The poem is often used to discuss the Romantic theme of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Loss and compensation (growth through loss)
B) Pure comedy of manners
C) Urban crime
D) Colonial conquest
Ans: A) Loss and compensation (growth through loss)
50. Which statement is TRUE about the poem? (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) It is a one-act play
B) It is a satirical novel
C) It is a sonnet sequence
D) It is a reflective ode on childhood, nature, and immortality
Ans: D) It is a reflective ode on childhood, nature, and immortality
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