Our Favorite Poets Quiz | Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "She walks in beauty like the night, Of cloudless climes and starry skies." This poet's torrid affairs eventually made him an outcast in British society. Who was he?

Answer: Lord Byron

"She Walks in Beauty" was written in 1814; there is academic argument as to whom this English bard actually dedicated this short, yet romantic poem. Lord Byron gained fame and adoration for his great works of poetry, yet society eventually shunned him after it could no longer tolerate his excesses with alcohol and women. His most famous liaisons were with the Lady Caroline Lamb and a supposed incestuous affair with his half sister Augusta. Byron died in self exile at the age of 36 in 1824.

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Jennywren53.

2. Which poetic device is this Edgar Allan Poe line an example of? "And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain".

Answer: Alliteration

The quote is from Edgar Allan Poe's classic, "The Raven". Alliteration is the repetition of one sound -- often for emotional effect; in this case, Poe uses the sibilant sound to evoke the sound of rustling curtains.

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Sretlaw.

3. "This is the end, beautiful friend. It hurts to set you free, But you'll never follow me. The end of laughter and soft lies. The end of nights we tried to die. This is the...end." What Rock and Roll icon wrote this poetry?

Answer: Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors, wanted to be considered a serious artist. He published several collections of poetry, including; "An American Prayer" (1970) and "The Lords and The New Creatures" (1971). Morrison's poetry and song lyrics were steeped in the morals of the era...drugs, sex and the antiwar movement. James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, on December 8, 1943 and died on July 3, 1971. The name The Doors was taken from Aldous Huxley's book, "The Doors of Perception". In the book Huxley quoted William Blake's poem "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell"; 'If the doors of perception were cleansed / All things would appear infinite'.

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Maskman22

4. What is the following line after the phrase, "I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky"?

Answer: "and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;"

The poem is entitled "Sea Fever" by John Masefield. He was born on June 1, 1878
in Lincoln and died May 12, 1967. His ashes reside in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey.

The originally published first line of the poem (in the 1902 collection "Salt Water Ballads") read, "I must down to the seas again"; it was changed to the one used here for "The Collected Poems of John Masefield".

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Rainier26.

5. Who wrote the sonnet which begins, "Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments"?

Answer: William Shakespeare

Although Shakespeare's plays are among the most famous in history, his love sonnets are equally well regarded by literary scholars. This was from Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116".

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Sretlaw.

6. What poem by John Donne ends with the following stanza? "Let not thy divining heart Forethink me any ill; Destiny may take thy part, And may thy fears fulfill. But think that we Are but turn'd aside to sleep. They who one another keep Alive, ne'er parted be."

Answer: Song: Sweetest love, I do not go

John Donne was an English poet, born in London in 1572. When aged 11 he entered the University of Oxford, where he studied for three years. He was one of the outstanding metaphysical poets.

This quiz was submitted by Poetic License team member and Exalted Captain Drivemecrazy.

7. In the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the narrator of the poem, the Mariner, stops a man and relates his tale to him. Where was that man going?

Answer: A wedding

This is made known to us in the first two verses of the poem:

"It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
`By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

The bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set:
Mayst hear the merry din.'"

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Wenray.

8. Who penned these memorable lines? "They dined on mince, and slices of quince Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon."

Answer: Edward Lear

Edward Lear (May 12, 1812 to January 29, 1888) was an English illustrator, author, and poet. Lear is remembered as the person who popularized the limerick. The following is an example of a Lear limerick:

'There was an Old Man of Aosta,
Who possessed a large Cow, but he lost her;
But they said, 'Don't you see,
she has rushed up a tree?
You invidious Old Man of Aosta!'

The quote in the question is the closing stanza from Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat", first published in 1867. A 'runcible spoon', as coined by Lear is a sharp edged fork with three wide curved tines.

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Maskman22.

9. What poem, by which poet, provided the title of Hemingway's novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls"?

Answer: "Devotions upon Emergent Occasions" by John Donne

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is based on Hemingway's own experiences in the Spanish Civil War. His fictional protagonist is an American who travels to Spain to oppose the fascist forces of Francisco Franco.

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Sretlaw.

10. The following ending lines from John Milton's poem refer to what? "Either man's works, or His own gifts; who best Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best, His state Is kingly. Thousands at His bidding speed, And post o'er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait."

Answer: Milton's blindness

The final lines are from John Milton's poem "Ode On His Blindness" where he laments the fact that his handicap keeps him from serving God but comes to the conclusion that God does not need man's works in order to serve him but to only bear his yoke they serve him best. Milton was born in 1608 and died in 1674.

(Note the strange capitalization within the poem was taken directly from a book of poetry. I assume that was the way they capitalized words in Milton's time).

This question was submitted by Poetic License team member Rainier26.

Source: Author maskman22

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Our Favorite Poets Trivia Quiz

Fun Trivia team Poetic License has taken upon itself to write a team quiz. Since our name is Poetic License due to our liberal massacre of the English language, we have opted to do our quiz on our favorite individual poets. Good luck and have fun.

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