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Poem-5: A Legend of the Northland
10 Questions
1. Who wrote the poem 'A Legend of the Northland'?
- A. Phoebe Cary
- B. Robert Frost
- C. Coates Kinney
- D. W. B. Yeats
Answer: A. Phoebe Cary
Explanation: 'A Legend of the Northland' is a ballad written by the American poet Phoebe Cary.
2. What poetic form is 'A Legend of the Northland' written in?
- A. Sonnet
- B. Ballad
- C. Free verse
- D. Elegy
Answer: B. Ballad
Explanation: A ballad is a song or poem that tells a narrative story passed down orally through generations.
3. Which holy person came to the little woman's door in the poem?
- A. Saint Nicholas
- B. Saint Peter
- C. Saint Paul
- D. Saint Mark
Answer: B. Saint Peter
Explanation: Saint Peter, traveling the world preaching, came to the little woman's cottage while he was faint with hunger.
4. What was the little woman doing when Saint Peter visited her?
- A. Spinning thread
- B. Baking cakes on the hearth
- C. Washing clothes
- D. Sleeping
Answer: B. Baking cakes on the hearth
Explanation: She was baking cakes and laying them out on the hearth to cook when Saint Peter arrived.
5. Why did the woman refuse to give a cake to Saint Peter?
- A. She didn't have enough flour
- B. She thought every cake she made looked too large to give away
- C. She didn't like Saint Peter
- D. The cakes were burned
Answer: B. She thought every cake she made looked too large to give away
Explanation: Due to her extreme greed, even a tiny wafer-thin cake seemed too big for her to give as a gift.
6. What curse did Saint Peter lay upon the greedy woman?
- A. Turn her into stone
- B. Turn her into a bird (a woodpecker)
- C. Banish her to the sea
- D. Make her blind
Answer: B. Turn her into a bird (a woodpecker)
Explanation: Angered by her selfishness, Saint Peter cursed her to become a woodpecker, forcing her to bore into hard wood for food.
7. What happened to the woman's clothes after she was transformed?
- A. They were turned into feathers
- B. They burned completely black like coal except for her scarlet cap
- C. They turned into gold
- D. They stayed as they were
Answer: B. They burned completely black like coal except for her scarlet cap
Explanation: Her clothes were burned to ashes in the chimney, leaving her body black like coal, while her red cap remained on the woodpecker's head.
8. What animals pull the sledges in the snowy Northland?
- A. Dogs
- B. Reindeer
- C. Horses
- D. Wolves
Answer: B. Reindeer
Explanation: "Where they harness the swift reindeer / To the sledges, when it snows..."
9. What moral lesson does 'A Legend of the Northland' teach us?
- A. We should always eat baked cakes
- B. We should never be greedy and always help the needy
- C. We should live in cold places
- D. We should learn to build chimneys
Answer: B. We should never be greedy and always help the needy
Explanation: The poem warns against greed and selfishness, urging people to practice kindness and generosity toward others.
10. How do children in the Northland look in their furry clothes?
- A. Like little dolls
- B. Like bear's cubs
- C. Like kittens
- D. Like angels
Answer: B. Like bear's cubs
Explanation: "And the children look like bear’s cubs / In their funny, furry clothes..." because of the heavy winter garments they wear.
