Popular Poetry Mix Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tennyson

Tennyson was born in 1809 and was appointed as Poet Laureate in 1850, holding the position until his death in 1892. He began writing poetry while in his teens, in collaboration with his older brothers initially.

'The Lady of Shallot' was based on the legends of King Arthur and Tennyson wrote two versions, the first in 1832 and the second ten years later. This is one of Tennyson's longer poems, and tells a story about a woman held captive in a tower under a curse which means she must never look directly outside, although she can use a mirror to show her what is happening. When she sees Sir Lancelot, she cannot resist looking at him, causing the curse to come upon her. The lines 'the mirror cracked from side to side' were partly used by Agatha Christie for one of her book titles. The curse leads to the death of the Lady of Shallot.

Answer: Tennyson

Tennyson began the poem in 1833 but didn't finish it. He resurrected his work in 1859 and 'Tithonus' was published the following year. The poem is based on the story from Greek mythology where Tithonus asks his lover, Eos, to obtain the gift of immortality for him. Unfortunately, he forgets to ask for eternal youth to go with this, so continues to age with no hope of the release of death.

The poem ends with his unanswered plea that Eos should 'Release me, and restore me to the ground'.

Answer: Tennyson

Published in 1851, this is one of Tennyson's short poems. It can be taken at face value, as describing an actual bird. Another, more cynical, interpretation is that it is an allegory for people in power. The latter meaning doesn't show leaders in a good light, with 'crooked hands' and falling 'like a thunderbolt' on those beneath them. The poem is only six lines, so I can quote it in full and let you draw your own conclusions:

'He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands;
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.'

Answer: Tennyson

One of the tragedies of Tennyson's life was the death of his close friend, Arthur Hallam who died from a stroke at the very early age of twenty-two. Tennyson was devastated by this event, for his own loss and that of his sister, to whom Hallam was engaged.

'Break, Break, Break' is one of these poems. It includes the lines 'But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand, And the sound of a voice that is still!', expressing his feelings of despair.

When Tennyson married, later in life than many, he named his first born son Hallam.

Answer: Keats

John Keats was one of the 'Romantic' poets, along with Byron and Shelley, although his life was short - he was aged only 25 when tuberculosis claimed him. His fame came mainly after his death, which occurred in 1821.

He wrote several 'odes' with 'Ode on Melancholy' dating from 1819. In the poem he gives advice on how to deal with melancholy, telling the reader not to drink to forget ('go not to Lethe') nor to eat any poisons, with wolfsbane, yew and nightshade among those he warns the reader to eschew. Keats then provides a list of items which will help to lift the melancholy mood, with looking at roses, and rainbows among the suggestions. He also makes the valid point that nothing lasts and beauty has to end.

Answer: Keats

This poem was published in 1819, although Keats stole the title from an earlier poem. The poem tells the story of a knight who has fallen wildly in love with a beautiful woman, only to find that she is an enchantress. Even worse, he has discovered that he is only one of many men to have fallen victim to her, all of them high ranking noblemen, including kings, and all doomed to die.

If you've ever wondered where the expression 'palely loitering' comes from, here's the answer. Keats uses it twice in the poem, in the first and last verses.

Answer: Keats

The opening lines of this 1818 poem are 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever', which many of us will have heard even if we don't know the name of the poem or even that Keats wrote it. The inspiration came from Greek myth - the moon goddess, who Keats calls Cynthia in the poem, enchants a shepherd named Endymion. The poem, which has around 4,000 lines in total across four books, is written in rhyming couplets.

Endymion faces many challenges, even falling in love with another woman, who turns out to be the goddess in disguise, and is eventually granted immortality by Zeus. The poem was not universally admired by his peers, and Keats himself is said to have regretted publishing it, although he defended writing it as part of his journey.

Answer: Keats

Rather shorter than 'Endymion', this poem describes the reaction of Keats to reading Homer's works as translated by George Chapman. Often described as a rival to Shakespeare, Chapman was an accomplished scholar (and playwright) whose translations of Homer are considered by many to be more true to the originals than others.

Keats begins his poem, classed as a sonnet, with another well known line - 'Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold' as he tells of his wonder at being able to understand Homer in a new light. In the poem, he compares himself to 'some watcher of the skies', discovering a new planet, and to the explorer, Cortez, the first time he set eyes on the Pacific Ocean. This was not historically accurate, as it was Balboa who was the first European to see the Pacific, but this is poetry, not a history lesson, and Balboa has too many syllables to scan properly.

Answer: Blake

William Blake was considered something of a maverick by his contemporaries, with views which would be described as anarchic nowadays. He wrote a collection of poems called 'Songs of Innocence and Experience', which was published in 1794. The first half has uplifting poems, the 'innocence' while those of the second half are much darker, the 'experience.

'The Sick Rose' is one of those from the second half, describing an 'invisible worm' which attacks the rose, causing its sickness and which will lead to its death. The poem contains a lot of symbolism and it is accepted that Blake was not referring to an actual rose. Interpretations differ, with some of them relating to sexual desire and the one which I was taught, which argued that it related to syphilis.

Answer: Blake

Another poem from 'The Songs of Innocence and Experience', this poem appears in the 'innocence' section and is the counterpart to the very well known poem 'The Tyger', which is the other side of the coin to the innocent lamb. You may recall that one of the lines in 'The Tyger' asks 'Did He who made the lamb make thee?'.

'The Lamb' has an overt religious theme, beginning 'Little Lamb who made thee?' before going on to explain that the lamb was created by Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Answer: Blake

Another poem from 'Songs of Experience', Blake's poem depicts the corrosive effects of anger, especially when allowed to fester, and was first published in 1794. The first line says 'I was angry with my friend' before going on to say that discussing his feelings with the friend allowed him to release them.

By contrast, his anger with an enemy was allowed to grow with the author's encouragement. The enemy ends up dead, having been tempted by an apple on the poisonous tree -

'And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree'.

Answer: Blake

If you're British, you probably recognised these words from the hymn 'Jerusalem', sometimes used as England's (not the UK's as a whole) anthem. The poem was set to music by Hubert Parry in 1916. Blake wrote the poem in 1804 although it was not published until four years later. It appeared in the preface to 'Milton: A Poem in Two Books', Blake's epic poem about a fellow poet.

The feet referred to in the opening line are those of Jesus, possibly linked to the legend that Joseph of Arimathea visited England, specifically Glastonbury in Somerset. Phrases from the poem have become part of the English language - the 'dark satanic mills', 'England's pleasant pastures', 'bow of burning gold' and 'chariot of fire' all appear in Blake's work.