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Playing With Poetry Trivia Quiz

Here are ten quotations from some well known and well loved poems. You will need to supply an answer either about the poem or the author.

A multiple-choice quiz by rubytops. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
rubytops

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
330,354

Updated
Jun 03 23

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
1037

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. The following lines are the first stanza of a well known poem by Robert Frost.

'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;'

Can you name the poem from which the lines have been taken? Hint

The Traveller's Dilemma

The Choice

The Road Less Travelled

The Road Not Taken

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Which of the War Poets wrote the poem 'The Soldier' from which the following lines are taken?

'If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England.' Hint

Wilfred Owen

Herbert Read

Siegfried Sassoon

Rupert Brooke

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. 'I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.'

These lines were written by W.B Yeats in his poem 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree'.
They are about an actual place he was fond of as a child. What nationality was W. B. Yeats? Hint

Welsh

Scottish

Irish

English

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. The following lines are taken from a poem titled 'Warning' written by
Jenny Joseph. This poem inspired a new ladies society to be formed in 1998 which took its name from the second line.

'When I am an old woman I shall wear --------
With a ------ hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.'

What two colours are missing from the quote? Hint

Gold/Silver

Purple/Red

Orange/Green

Black/Brown

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. 'Old Meg she was a gypsy;
And liv'd upon the Moors:
Her bed it was the brown heath turf,
And her house was out of doors.'

These lines are taken from the poem 'Meg Merrilies'. Which English poet, who died at the tender age of 25, wrote them? Hint

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

William Wordsworth

John Keats

P B Shelley

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. 'The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright-
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.'

A bit of nonsense poetry written by Lewis Carroll. What is the title of the poem from which these lines have been taken? Hint

Jabberwocky

The Hunting of the Snark

Father William

The Walrus and the Carpenter

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. The poem is titled 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' by Robert Browning.
What country has been omitted in the following line?

'Oh, to be in -------
Now that April's there,'

Answer: (One Word / European Country)

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. 'In the Bleak Midwinter' is better known as a Christmas carol than as just a poem. The the words were penned by which female writer?

'In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;'
Hint

Emily Dickinson

Christina Rossetti

Elizabeth Barrett-Browning

Louisa M Allcott

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. 'Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.'

'Funeral Blues (Stop all the Clocks') was written by W. H. Auden. In which
1990s film was it featured? Hint

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Remains of the Day

The Shawshank Redemption

Saving Private Ryan

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. 'Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.'

These lines are the first stanza of the poem 'Paul Revere's Ride'. They were written by which American poet? Hint

Walt Whitman

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Herman Melville

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The following lines are the first stanza of a well known poem by Robert Frost. 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;' Can you name the poem from which the lines have been taken?

Answer: The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco on 26th March 1874. He was named for both the poet Robert Burns and the confederate general Robert E Lee. In 1912 Robert Frost came with his family to the UK to run a farm in Buckinghamshire but returned to America in 1915.

2. Which of the War Poets wrote the poem 'The Soldier' from which the following lines are taken? 'If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is forever England.'

Answer: Rupert Brooke

Rupert Brooke was educated at Rugby public school for boys, where his father was a schoolmaster. It was at this school that he first showed an interest in writing poetry and won several prizes for his efforts. After leaving Rugby he studied at King's College, Cambridge and became an elite member of a group known as the Apostles.
After the outbreak of the first World War Brooke joined the Royal Navy and fought in Antwerp, Belgium. He died in 1915 of septicemia while he was en route to action in Gallipoli. He was buried on the Island of Skyros in Greece.

3. 'I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade.' These lines were written by W.B Yeats in his poem 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree'. They are about an actual place he was fond of as a child. What nationality was W. B. Yeats?

Answer: Irish

W. B. Yeats was born in Sandymount, in the county of Dublin. He spent long holidays in Sligo where Loch Gill is located. The Isle of Innisfree is one of many small islands within the loch. Yeats is buried in the churchyard of
St Columba's Church in Drumcliffe, County Sligo. He composed the epitaph on his tombstone one year prior to his death which reads, 'Cast a cold Eye On Life, on Death. Horseman, pass by!'

4. The following lines are taken from a poem titled 'Warning' written by Jenny Joseph. This poem inspired a new ladies society to be formed in 1998 which took its name from the second line. 'When I am an old woman I shall wear -------- With a ------ hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.' What two colours are missing from the quote?

Answer: Purple/Red

Jenny Joseph was born on 7th May 1932 in England.
The poem 'Warning' was voted the UK's most popular poem in a BBC poll in 1996. It was first included in her poetry collection titled 'Rose in the Afternoon'.
In 1997 Sue Ellen Cooper, who was living in California, gave her friend a red fedora and a copy of this poem for her 50th birthday. She repeated this gesture for several of her other friends and from this the now worldwide Red Hat Society was born.

5. 'Old Meg she was a gypsy; And liv'd upon the Moors: Her bed it was the brown heath turf, And her house was out of doors.' These lines are taken from the poem 'Meg Merrilies'. Which English poet, who died at the tender age of 25, wrote them?

Answer: John Keats

'Meg Merrilies' is one of Keats' lighter works. After receiving a basic classical education at a North London school, Keats became apprenticed to a surgeon. After studying at Guy's hospital and qualifying as a surgeon/apothecary he then began to concentrate on his poetry writing. Keats died in Rome in 1821 and was buried in the English cemetery there.

6. 'The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might: He did his very best to make The billows smooth and bright- And this was odd, because it was The middle of the night.' A bit of nonsense poetry written by Lewis Carroll. What is the title of the poem from which these lines have been taken?

Answer: The Walrus and the Carpenter

The answer was 'The Walrus and the Carpenter'.
The poem 'The Walrus and The Carpenter', featured in the book 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' and was narrated by the characters Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.

7. The poem is titled 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' by Robert Browning. What country has been omitted in the following line? 'Oh, to be in ------- Now that April's there,'

Answer: England

'Oh, to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!'
The first line of this poem is often misquoted as 'Oh to be in England, now that April's here,' but the title of this poem is 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' and is about missing England not enjoying it.

8. 'In the Bleak Midwinter' is better known as a Christmas carol than as just a poem. The the words were penned by which female writer? 'In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone;'

Answer: Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti first began writing poetry under a pseudonym. It was not until after the publication of 'Goblin Market' and other poems in 1862 that she became known for her work under her own name. For many years she worked at the Highgate Penitentiary, helping women who had turned to prostitution in hard times.

9. 'Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.' 'Funeral Blues (Stop all the Clocks') was written by W. H. Auden. In which 1990s film was it featured?

Answer: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Wystan Hugh Auden was born on the 21st February 1907. Among his contemporaries and friends were John Betjeman and Cecil Day Lewis, both poets laureate, whilst one of his tutors at Christ Church, Oxford was J R R Tolkien. On the eve of the second world war in 1939 he moved to America and for this he was heavily criticised.

10. 'Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year.' These lines are the first stanza of the poem 'Paul Revere's Ride'. They were written by which American poet?

Answer: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on 27th February 1807 in Portland, Maine.
Popular both in the United States and in Britain his epic poems such as 'Paul Revere's Ride' and 'Hiawatha' helped to establish American mythology. He was the first American poet to be honoured with a bust in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, London.

Source: Author rubytops

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