Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Her story is one of the earliest examples of Hebrew poetry, dating from the 2nd half of the 12th century BCE. Who wrote "I arose a mother in Israel. They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates:"?
2. Sappho of Lesbos is considered the most important lyric poet of Western antiquity. She was born in Greece in the 7th-6th century BCE. Which of the following was written by Sappho?
3. Within her masterwork, "The Tale of Genji", this Japanese author placed a number of stunning poems. She was born in 974.
4. The traditional songs and poems of many cultures were written by women whose names are lost to us. The poetic form called "jarcha" flourished in this country in 1000-1300. Jarchas were written in Arabic or Hebrew, with a last stanza in the country's native tongue. Their subject is often women's carnal side, as in the following:
"I will make love
with you,
but only if you hold me
so my earrings
touch the jewelry
on my ankles."
In what country with both a rich Jewish and a rich Arab heritage were these poems written by now-anonymous women?
5. Africa, of course, has a rich oral poetic tradition in its many languages. A Hottentot woman created the undated poem "Song of the Lioness for her Cub" in what present-day country?
6. Born around 1460, Gwerfyl Mechain is one of the very few early poets from this country whose work has been preserved. One of her best-known poems is "The Lady of the Ferry Inn". Her country?
7. Vittoria da Colonna epitomized the Italian Renaissance. Like her friend Michelangelo, her preferred poetic form was the sonnet. One of her most famous begins, "I live on this depraved and lonely cliff".
In what year was this noble lady born?
8. Born sometime in the 16th century, Lal Ded was a wandering mystic who wrote the words,
"To learn the scriptures is easy,
to live them hard.
The search for the Real
is no simple matter."
Through which Asian country did Lal Ded wander?
9. Although she was born in the mid-seventeeth century, this first important literary figure of the New World wrote poems that still ring true today. What is the name of the Mexican nun who wrote "She Proves the Inconsistency of the Desires and Criticisms of Men Who Accuse Women of What They Themselves Cause"?
10. This woman endured much during her life, including the suppression of her work by the Soviet Union and the execution of her ex-husband. She was born in 1889, and one of her best-known poems is "Requiem 1935-1940". Name this Russian survivor.
11. Despite her short life (1892-1938), Alfonsina Storni published several volumes of beautiful and tragic poetry. Perhaps not surprisingly, this author of "I Am Going to Sleep (Suicide Poem)" drowned herself at Mar del Plata. She was born in Switzerland, but which country did Alfonsina call home from the age of four?
12. Another writer who died an untimely death (of TB, when she was only 31), was this woman, who was born in Russia, lived in Finland, and wrote in German and Swedish. Two of her best-known poems are "What Is Tomorrow?" and "Vierge Moderne".
13. Born in 1916, Anne Hébert wrote in French and published novels, short stories, and screenplays in addition to poetry such as 1953's "Le Tombeau des Rois" ("The Tomb of the Kings"). Which country is proud to claim Mlle. Hébert?
14. Judith Wright is the only Australian woman ever considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In addition to her poems such as "South of My Day's Circle", she also supported environmental reform and Aboriginal rights. In what year was she born in Queensland?
15. Although this poet and activist emigrated to the USA, she was born in England in 1923. She wrote "Overheard over S.E. Asia" and one of her most famous, "The Ache of Marriage".
16. Our next poet is the Nobel Prize-winning Wislawa Szymborska, also born in 1923. While you try to guess her native country, you may enjoy this moving excerpt from "Tortures".
"Nothing has changed.
The body shudders as it shuddered
before the founding of Rome and after,
in the twentieth century before and after Christ.
Tortures are as they were, it's just the earth that's grown smaller,
and whatever happens seems right on the other side of the wall."
17. Born in Nicaragua in 1924, this woman wrote (and was exiled because of) her revolutionary poetry in El Salvador. One of her most moving poems is "Accounting" (sometimes translated as "Summing Up").
18. Born in 1942, Sharon Olds was the New York State Poet Laureate from 1998-2000. Her appointment was controversial, perhaps because of her honest and frank examination of "women's issues". Which of the poems below was written by Ms. Olds?
19. Great new poetic voices continue to be heard. Emma LaRocque, born in 1949, educates both as a professor and in her writings, which often deal with Metis and First Nations themes. A beautiful example is "The Red in Winter". Where does Dr. LaRocque live and teach?
20. Finally, we arrive at the last and youngest of our transcendent female poets...Joy Harjo, whose work is modern and touching and important. Native American themes (she is a member of the Muskogee Nation) are prominent in Ms. Harjo's work, such as the moving "She Had Some Horses". In what year was Joy born?
Source: Author
LilahDeDah
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agony before going online.
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