A Poem and a Prayer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alliteration

An alliteration is a repetition of a string of words to repeat sound, usually to catch the reader's attention. It is normally applied to the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of each word. Another example would be, "Fred Flintstone fried frozen frogs on Friday".

Answer: Limerick

Limericks are five line nonsense poems, believed to have originated from Limerick, a city in the mid-west of Ireland. The first, second, and fifth lines have seven to ten syllables and have the same rhythm and rhyme. The shorter third and fourth lines are a couplet, both having five to seven syllables, which rhyme and have the same rhythm.

Answer: Spoonerism

A spoonerism is a short phrase where the speaker switches the first sounds of two or more words. It was named after a man called Reverend William Archibald Spooner who often mixed up his words. Another example is "Runny babbit" instead of "Bunny rabbit".

Answer: No

This word game is called a Tongue Twister. If you repeat the sentence several times in quick succession, you will find your tongue gets stuck to the roof of your mouth, and teeth, and lips, and your words get all mixed up, so nobody can understand what you are saying. One of the best known examples is, "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers".

Answer: Haiku

A haiku is one of the most difficult types of verse to understand. They always have three lines. The first and last lines are usually five syllables long and the middle line is seven syllables long. The lines rarely rhyme. A syllable is the way a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced.

For example, the word "water" has two syllables, "wa" and "ter". A haiku traditionally uses a form of nature as its subject matter, but English versions are more relaxed and can relate to other themes.

Answer: Acrostic

An acrostic is a form of writing where the first, last, or any other letters taken in order spell out a word or phrase. "A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky" was written by Lewis Carroll who created "Alice in Wonderland". The first letter of each sentence spells out his friend's daughter's name, Alice Pleasance Liddell, who gave him inspiration for the books.

"A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July.

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear.

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream
Lingering in the golden gleam
Life, what is it but a dream?"

Answer: Quatrain

"Quattuor" is a Latin word which relates to the numerical number four. A quadricycle is a four-wheeled vehicle, a quadruped is a four-footed animal, a quadrille is a square dance for four people. A quatrain is a poem consisting of four lines.

Answer: Rhyming riddle

A rhyming riddle is a method of asking somebody a tricky question by way of using rhyming verse. The answer to the example riddle was "Paddington", the marmalade-loving bear from deepest, darkest Peru. One of the best known rhyming riddles is this one, but can you guess the answer?

"As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives;
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives.
How many were there going to St. Ives?"

Answer: Prayers

A prayer is another way of expressing yourself, either verbally or by written word. It is an earnest hope or wish, or expression of thanks to somebody, real or an object of worship. The best known prayer is "The Lord's Prayer". The prayer shown in the question was written by A. A. Milne, who wrote the stories about the lovable Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

Answer: Epitaph

An epitaph can normally be found on a gravestone and gives a very short description and/or phrase relating to that person's life. Mel Blanc was a very famous actor who created a lot of voices behind some well known Looney Tunes characters. These also included Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat.

He was also famous for saying the catchphrase, "That's All Folks!".