Eschew Obfuscation Trivia Quiz

Answer: E.E. Cummings

"All in green went my love riding, On a great horse of gold, Into the silver dawn. Four lean hounds crouched low and smiling, The merry deer ran before."
In the last stanza, 'the merry deer ran before' is replaced by 'My heart fell dead before'. The four deer may represent love, and the four hounds its death.

The American poet, e e cummings (1894-1962), preferred the lower case in writing his name and his works until about the 1930s. Cummings was a prolific writer and often used a slangy and sometimes dialectic style in his novels and poems.

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary..." is more familiar as the introduction to "The Raven". The poem utilizes mood words, onomatopoeia and alliteration for great effect, and ends on a note of despair. Each question in the writer's mind is answered with but one word - "Nevermore."
He ultimately realises that he will never be lifted from his state of despair over the passing of his love, Lenore. It has been presumed that "Lenore" referred to his wife and cousin, Virginia, who died two years before Poe did.

After the death of his parents, Edgar Poe (1809-1849) became godson to John Allan, but his later relationship with Allan was strained to breaking. Poe had a short life, but was a prolific writer of short stories and poems, most with a somewhat macabre theme. Other dark poets, such as Charles Baudelaire, were strongly influenced by Poe's writings.

Answer: Emily Dickinson

"Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me..." The author describes Death as a kind gentleman, who stops for passengers but for nothing else as images of life pass by. Next stop: The Twilight Zone.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was the 'Belle of Amherst' (MA), where she evidently spent her entire life. Her first volume of poetry was published in 1890. Many of her poems are rather short and succinct, but carry strong emotional feeling.

Answer: T.S. Eliot

"April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land..." is only the first line in "The Waste Land", an epic poem dedicated to Ezra Pound. Pound worked with Eliot on the poem as well, bringing it down to half its original length and making changes to render it more readable. It is still filled with vague literary references and foreign language phrases, meant for an erudite audience, but not always having the staying power to hold the reader. There are profuse 'notes' that accompany the poem, but it is still a real Frankenstein to conquer.

Thomas Stearnes Eliot lived from 1888 to 1965. Born in the U.S., Eliot preferred European literature and philosophy and became a citizen of England. He won the 1948 Nobel Prize in literature. Eliot studied at Harvard, Oxford and the Sorbonne, and is well remembered for his first play, "Murder in The Cathedral" and for his books on cats.

Answer: Rupert Brooke

"The Soldier", by Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) begins, "If I should die, think only this of me; that there's some corner of a foreign field that is forever England..." That place was to be the Greek island of Skyros, where he is buried and where his statue stands.

Rupert was an English poet and written of as a darling in the literary salons of his day, being charming, handsome and witty. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group, and friendly with Winston Churchill, Henry James and Virginia Wolff, among others.

Answer: Rudyard Kipling

The poem is "If", and begins, "If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs..." and goes on to describe mature behavior in several situations. It concludes with "If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son."

Kipling (1865-1936) was a British poet who was born in and spent much time in India. He grew up speaking both English and Hindustani, and in 1907 was the first Englishman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Kipling was well traveled, and wrote many ballads, poems and short stories, among which are "The Jungle Books" and the memorable poem "Gunga Din".

Answer: William Shakespeare

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments..." wrote Bill in sonnet #116. He went on to express the idea that, whatever love is, it is greater than the power to change it, and should not be subjected to petty nitpicking. He concludes, "Should this be error and upon me proved, I never writ nor no man ever loved."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) became probably the most recognized playwright known in the English-speaking world. His 154 sonnets were written in what became his own style, and several were addressed to 'a dark lady'. Both his poetry and his plays remain as comprehensible now as they were then and the plays are still performed all over the world.

Answer: Robert Frost

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..." is the first line of a simple and charming rustic poem by New England's late poet. Ultimately the chosen path represents a decision, or many different ones, as the roads all had many tributaries. Yet each one is irreversible, and at the end, Frost writes, "that has made all the difference." The poem is "The Road Not Taken" published in 1916.

Robert Frost (1874-1963) was an American poet educated at Harvard and Dartmouth universities. He wrote primarily about New England rural life and simple everyday subjects, among which are "The Death of the Hired Man" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes, but sadly the Nobel Prize evaded him.

Answer: Walter de la Mare

"Is there anybody there?" said the Traveller, Knocking on the moonlit door..." and he waited for an answer in the darkness while his horse chomped on grass. His questions were answered by silence and at last he cried out, "'Tell them I came, and no one answered, That I kept my word,' he said". He rode off and the ghosts returned to their rest. There is no explanation for his visit to the empty house.

Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) was an English romantic poet who also wrote for children and published anthologies. His 1947 "Collected Stories For Children" was the first of its kind to win a Carnegie Medal.

Answer: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." And so she does in her 43rd sonnet, covering every spectrum of passion that she feels. Elizabeth concludes the sonnet with, "And if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death." Published as "Sonnets from the Portuguese" all of these were addressed to her lover and savior, Robert Browning, who finally stole her from the invalid life she had in England, to a healthy and happy life with him in Italy.

Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) lived on Wimpole Street in London with her domineering father. Robert Browning (1812-1889) became a frequent visitor and eventually convinced her to leave her dreary life and run off with him.