Poetry : Practice test

Below is a short poem by Irish poet, John Montague

No Music
I’ll tell you a sore truth, little understood
It’s harder to leave, than to be left:
To stay, to leave, both sting wrong.
You will always have me to blame,
Can dream we might have sailed on;
From absence’s rib, a warm fiction.
To tear up old love by the roots,
To trample on past affections:
There is no music for so harsh a song.


1. The above poem implies a number of reasons why it is harder for someone to leave than to be left. Which of the following does the poem not imply about the one who is leaving?

• A      They will have nobody to blame for their actions
• B      They might regret their choice, rather than being the subject of someone else’s
• C      They will deprive themselves of idyllic daydreams
• D      There exists plenty of songs about being left, but no music which empathises with the one who is leaves