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W.B. Yeats – “Byzantium” – Exam Based MCQs
1. “Byzantium” is a poem written by: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) T. S. Eliot
B) W. B. Yeats
C) W. H. Auden
D) Ezra Pound
Ans: B) W. B. Yeats
2. “Byzantium” was written in: (UGC NET)
A) 1914
B) 1922
C) 1926
D) 1930
Ans: D) 1930
3. According to scholarly notes, “Byzantium” first appeared in: (SET)
A) Words for Music Perhaps and Other Poems
B) The Waste Land
C) The Tower
D) Leaves of Grass
Ans: A) Words for Music Perhaps and Other Poems
4. “Byzantium” has: (PGTRB)
A) 4 stanzas of 10 lines
B) 3 stanzas of 12 lines
C) 5 stanzas of 8 lines
D) 7 stanzas of 6 lines
Ans: C) 5 stanzas of 8 lines
5. “Byzantium” is most closely connected as a companion poem to: (UGC NET)
A) “The Second Coming”
B) “Leda and the Swan”
C) “Among School Children”
D) “Sailing to Byzantium”
Ans: D) “Sailing to Byzantium”
6. The opening line suggests that “day” images are: (SET)
A) Increasing in power
B) Receding / fading away
C) Being celebrated loudly
D) Turning into flowers
Ans: B) Receding / fading away
7. In the poem, “night” is linked with: (UGC NET)
A) Spiritual revelation and transformation
B) Only political satire
C) Sports and celebration
D) Farming and harvest
Ans: A) Spiritual revelation and transformation
8. “The drunken soldiery are asleep” mainly suggests: (PGTRB)
A) New scientific discovery
B) Romantic love
C) Earthly violence exhausted / silenced
D) Religious sermon
Ans: C) Earthly violence exhausted / silenced
9. The speaker’s movement in “Byzantium” feels like: (SET)
A) A detective investigation
B) A courtroom trial
C) A war memoir
D) A visionary journey through a sacred city at midnight
Ans: D) A visionary journey through a sacred city at midnight
10. In Yeats’s symbolism, Byzantium often stands for: (UGC NET)
A) Purely industrial modern life
B) A spiritual/artistic ideal (eternal art)
C) Rural Irish politics
D) Comic entertainment only
Ans: B) A spiritual/artistic ideal (eternal art)
11. The phrase “unpurged images” best connects to: (PGTRB)
A) Human passions/impurities that must be cleansed
B) Newspaper photographs
C) Mathematical symbols
D) Sports medals
Ans: A) Human passions/impurities that must be cleansed
12. “Mire or blood” most clearly suggests: (SET)
A) Perfect peace only
B) Mechanical efficiency
C) The messy, mortal world of physical life
D) A comedy stage
Ans: C) The messy, mortal world of physical life
13. The “starlit golden bough” is associated with: (UGC NET)
A) A modern train station
B) A farming tool
C) A courtroom bench
D) A miraculous bird / crafted art object
Ans: D) A miraculous bird / crafted art object
14. “Miracle, bird or golden handiwork” mainly highlights: (PGTRB)
A) Economic theory
B) Art transcending nature / the crafted eternal
C) A comic prank
D) Political elections
Ans: B) Art transcending nature / the crafted eternal
15. “Cocks of Hades” points to: (SET)
A) The underworld / death imagery
B) Wedding rituals
C) Summer harvest
D) Court satire
Ans: A) The underworld / death imagery
16. “Changeless metal” primarily symbolizes: (UGC NET)
A) Temporary youth
B) Political revolution
C) Immortality / permanence of art
D) Food and drink
Ans: C) Immortality / permanence of art
17. “The Emperor’s pavement” appears in the context of: (PGTRB)
A) A cricket match
B) A ship journey
C) A courtroom debate
D) Midnight visions and purifying fire
Ans: D) Midnight visions and purifying fire
18. The “flames” in the poem are described as: (SET)
A) Fed by wood and smoke
B) Self-born / not fed by fuel
C) Put out by rain immediately
D) Only kitchen fire
Ans: B) Self-born / not fed by fuel
19. The poem blends Christian and classical imagery, especially via: (UGC NET)
A) Hades, spirits, and purgation-like fire
B) Space rockets
C) Parliamentary slogans
D) Farm animals
Ans: A) Hades, spirits, and purgation-like fire
20. “Byzantium” is best described as: (SET)
A) A realist short story
B) A Victorian novel chapter
C) A symbolic/visionary modern poem
D) A scientific report
Ans: C) A symbolic/visionary modern poem
21. A major theme in “Byzantium” is the conflict between: (UGC NET)
A) Maths and physics
B) Comedy and tragedy only
C) Law and punishment
D) Mortal life (“mire or blood”) and eternal art/spirit
Ans: D) Mortal life (“mire or blood”) and eternal art/spirit
22. Compared to “Sailing to Byzantium,” “Byzantium” mainly shows: (PGTRB)
A) The journey only, not the city
B) The experience/vision of being in Byzantium
C) A rural Irish love story
D) A war diary
Ans: B) The experience/vision of being in Byzantium
23. The sea in the ending is described as: (SET)
A) “dolphin-torn” and “gong-tormented”
B) Calm like a lake always
C) Frozen solid
D) Full of deserts
Ans: A) “dolphin-torn” and “gong-tormented”
24. The violent sea imagery mainly reinforces: (UGC NET)
A) A picnic mood
B) A classroom scene
C) The turbulent life-cycle and human complexity
D) A simple love lyric
Ans: C) The turbulent life-cycle and human complexity
25. “Byzantium” belongs mainly to: (SET)
A) Restoration drama
B) Metaphysical poetry only
C) Medieval romance
D) Modernist symbolic poetry
Ans: D) Modernist symbolic poetry
26. The poem’s imagery is MOST notable for being: (UGC NET)
A) Plain and purely factual
B) Dense, surreal, and symbolic
C) Only humorous
D) Only pastoral
Ans: B) Dense, surreal, and symbolic
27. The “golden bird” in Yeats’s Byzantium poems typically represents: (PGTRB)
A) Artifice/eternal art beyond nature
B) A real sparrow in Ireland
C) A political leader
D) A farming symbol only
Ans: A) Artifice/eternal art beyond nature
28. The spirits in the poem are best understood as: (SET)
A) Lawyers in court
B) Soldiers in uniform
C) Disembodied souls moving toward purification
D) Farmers at harvest
Ans: C) Disembodied souls moving toward purification
29. The poem’s midnight setting most strongly creates a mood of: (UGC NET)
A) Sports excitement
B) Shopping market
C) Political rally
D) Mystery, ritual, and revelation
Ans: D) Mystery, ritual, and revelation
30. “Complexity” in the poem is treated as something to: (PGTRB)
A) Celebrate without limit
B) Be “broken” / purified / transcended
C) Ignore completely
D) Turn into comedy
Ans: B) Be “broken” / purified / transcended
31. Byzantium in Yeats is often linked to mosaic/gold artistry, representing: (SET)
A) A civilization where art becomes timeless
B) A purely rural village
C) A factory town
D) A courtroom city
Ans: A) A civilization where art becomes timeless
32. “Byzantium” is NOT mainly about: (UGC NET)
A) Art and eternity
B) Spirit and purification
C) A realistic travel guide to Istanbul
D) Visions and symbols
Ans: C) A realistic travel guide to Istanbul
33. The poem’s movement from day to night most clearly suggests: (SET)
A) School timetable
B) Market closing time only
C) Weather forecast
D) Transition from ordinary life to spiritual vision
Ans: D) Transition from ordinary life to spiritual vision
34. The poem’s “gong” image mainly contributes to: (PGTRB)
A) A love song tone
B) Ritual/sacred sound and cosmic vibration
C) A comedy punchline
D) A political slogan
Ans: B) Ritual/sacred sound and cosmic vibration
35. The sea at the end functions as an image of: (UGC NET)
A) The continuing cycle of life, generation, and turmoil
B) Only peaceful retirement
C) A market crowd
D) A court verdict
Ans: A) The continuing cycle of life, generation, and turmoil
36. The poem’s “spirits” are depicted as: (SET)
A) Party guests
B) Soldiers marching
C) Moving beyond the “mire” of earthly life
D) Farmers selling crops
Ans: C) Moving beyond the “mire” of earthly life
37. “Byzantium” is best approached as: (PGTRB)
A) Purely literal narrative
B) Comedy and satire only
C) A scientific description
D) A symbolic vision with multiple meanings
Ans: D) A symbolic vision with multiple meanings
38. The poem suggests that even “perfect” art is linked to: (SET)
A) Government offices
B) Human making/handiwork (artifice)
C) Only natural growth
D) Only animal instinct
Ans: B) Human making/handiwork (artifice)
39. The poem’s dominant technique is: (UGC NET)
A) Symbolism through vivid images
B) Direct political speech
C) Newspaper reporting
D) Pure storytelling realism
Ans: A) Symbolism through vivid images
40. The city of Byzantium is presented mainly as: (PGTRB)
A) A tourist place for shopping
B) A battlefield only
C) A spiritual/artistic realm beyond time
D) A village in Ireland
Ans: C) A spiritual/artistic realm beyond time
41. The poem’s “day” images are called “unpurged” because they are: (SET)
A) Perfectly holy always
B) Completely mechanical
C) Written in legal language
D) Still mixed with desire, blood, and mortal complexity
Ans: D) Still mixed with desire, blood, and mortal complexity
42. The poem’s fire that “cannot be quenched” best indicates: (UGC NET)
A) Kitchen routine
B) Spiritual purification beyond physical laws
C) War destruction only
D) Farming practice
Ans: B) Spiritual purification beyond physical laws
43. “Byzantium” is often read as Yeats’s meditation on: (PGTRB)
A) Death, soul, and the possibility of artistic immortality
B) Train travel timetables
C) Economic inflation
D) Sports coaching
Ans: A) Death, soul, and the possibility of artistic immortality
44. The “golden handiwork” contrasts MOST with: (SET)
A) Government law
B) School discipline
C) Common birds/petals (natural, changing life)
D) Bank accounts
Ans: C) Common birds/petals (natural, changing life)
45. The poem’s structure (five octaves) supports a sense of: (UGC NET)
A) Random diary notes only
B) A single joke
C) Newspaper columns
D) Ordered stages of a symbolic vision
Ans: D) Ordered stages of a symbolic vision
46. The poem’s strongest contrast is between: (PGTRB)
A) Farming and city life
B) Transient nature and permanent art
C) Comedy and farce
D) Grammar and syntax
Ans: B) Transient nature and permanent art
47. “Byzantium” is generally considered a: (SET)
A) Late Yeats masterpiece with complex symbolism
B) Simple nursery rhyme
C) Romantic pastoral lyric only
D) A medieval morality play
Ans: A) Late Yeats masterpiece with complex symbolism
48. The phrase “fresh images beget” suggests: (UGC NET)
A) Images stop completely
B) Only politics grows
C) Only science grows
D) Images keep producing more images (endless complexity)
Ans: D) Images keep producing more images (endless complexity)
49. The poem’s vision ultimately aims at: (PGTRB)
A) Becoming a soldier
B) Transcending “mire or blood” through purifying/artistic eternity
C) Buying land
D) Winning elections
Ans: B) Transcending “mire or blood” through purifying/artistic eternity
50. Which statement is TRUE about “Byzantium”? (UGC NET)
A) It is a literal travel brochure
B) It is a comic play
C) It is a symbolic poem of spiritual/artistic transformation
D) It is a Victorian detective story
Ans: C) It is a symbolic poem of spiritual/artistic transformation
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