Powerful Feelings in Small Spaces Quiz

Answer: purple

Gelett Burgess wrote this poem in 1895 for a magazine called "The Lark". It wasn't really just for children, but some children (and many adults, too) do like to recite it! Mr. Burgess did not like how popular it became, and so he wrote this verse in 1897:

"Ah, yes, I wrote the "Purple Cow"--
I'm sorry, now, I wrote it;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'll kill you if you quote it!"

Answer: At the Zoo

Even if you've never read the poem, you could guess that a place where one might see bears and a camel is a zoo. Mr. Thackeray wrote "At the Zoo" in the 1900s. Here is the entire poem:

"First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;
Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw;
Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw;
Then I saw the elephant a-waving of his trunk;
Then I saw the monkeys -- mercy, how unpleasantly they smelt!"

The joke is that "stunk" rhymes, but Thackeray chose "smelt" instead, to startle you. He wrote a lot of funny stories and poems for adults in his lifetime. He might be best known for a novel called "Vanity Fair", which was first published one chapter at a time in the magazine "Punch".

Answer: Autumn (Fall)

This poem has many titles. It is called "Come Little Leaves" but it has also been published as "An Autumn Greeting" and as "The Wind and the Leaves". George Cooper (1838-1927), an American poet, wrote the words, and Thomas J. Crawford set it to music. It was very popular at one time. The poetic contraction "o'er" means "over".

Answer: Canary

A canary is a yellow songbird that makes a great pet (and rhymes with Mary). Only the male birds sing. They were first kept by Spanish monks, who sold them to kings. Here is the rest of "The Canary" by Elizabeth Turner:

"Crumbs of bread and dainty seeds
She carried to him daily,
Seeking for the early weeds,
She decked his palace gaily.

"This, my little readers, learn,
And ever practice duly;
Songs and smiles of love return
To friends who love you truly."

Answer: Each word is only one syllable long.

In fact, the poem is subtitled "In words of one syllable". Thomas Miller (1807-1874) lived in England and was so poor that he tried to borrow money from Charles Dickens. Although he lived in London, he wrote poems and books about the countryside. Here are the next two verses:

"The lambs have now lain down to sleep,
The birds have long since sought their nests;
The air is still; and dark, and deep
On the hill side the old wood rests.

"Yet of the dark I have no fear,
But feel as safe as when 'tis light;
For I know God is with me there,
And He will guard me through the night."

As you see, every word is still only one syllable long!

Answer: a needle

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) wrote many, many poems about nature, God, and romance, even after she became ill. In fact, she was one of the most important lady poets of her day. She also sat for her brothers' paintings, and she spoke out against cruelty to animals. Another clever little poem she wrote is "The Rainbow":

"Boats sail on the rivers,
And ships sail on the seas;
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier than these.

"There are bridges on the rivers,
As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven,
And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
Is prettier far than these."

In other words, nothing that man builds is as lovely what nature makes!

Answer: The Lord God made them all

Mrs. Cecil Francis Alexander wrote "All Things Bright and Beautiful" in 1848 as part of her book, "Hymns for Little Children". Since then, it has been sung by many Christian people, especially Anglicans, to different melodies. Mrs. Alexander was Irish, and many think that the beauty of Ireland inspired her poem, such as this verse describes:

"The purple headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky;"

A veterinarian (using the pseudonym James Herriot) wrote a book about his adventures in Yorkshire, England, and he used the line "All Creatures Great and Small" as the title. It became very popular and was made into a TV series. The reading level for "All Creatures Great and Small" is around grade 8 (American), if you would like to give it a try.

Answer: Robert Louis Stevenson

You may also recognize him as the author of "Kidnapped", another novel of his that children often read. He invented the characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, too.

Mr. Stevenson also wrote these words of wisdom:

"A child should always say what's true,
And speak when he is spoken to,
And behave mannerly at table:
At least as far as he is able."

I think that's the right way to behave, don't you?

Answer: He is blind.

Colley Cibber (1671-1757) wrote plays as well as poems. He wrote "The Blind Boy" in the eighteenth century. The poem is not all sad, though, for the boy refuses to let his disability bring him down:

"With heavy sighs I often hear
You mourn my hapless woe;
But sure with patience I may bear
A loss I ne'er know.

"Then let not what I cannot have
My cheer of mind destroy;
Whilst thus I sing, I am a king,
Although a poor blind boy."

Answer: William Blake

In "The Tyger", which William Blake wrote in 1794, the poet wonders what God is like, if He could create a beast so beautiful yet so frightening as the tiger. Later in the poem he asks, "Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" Mr. Blake was born in 1757 in London and was not very famous in his lifetime, but he became very popular in the twentieth century.

The word is spelled "tyger" because that is how some people used to spell "tiger". He wrote a sister poem to "The Tyger" called "The Lamb", both published together in "Songs of Innocence and of Experience".

This is an excellent book to read, so try to find it on a website like ClassicReader.com, or check out a hard copy at your local library!