Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Here is a stanza from a very famous poem.
No clues for this one, simply identify the species of bird missing from the quote.
""Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?"
Quoth the ___, "Nevermore.""
2. "Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!
Bird thou never wert -
That from Heaven or near it
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art."
Which Romantic poet descibes the skylark in such a wonderful manner?
3. Here is the opening to a poem about a kestrel although that is not the title.
Which poet splendidly captures the essence of this fantastic little falcon?
"I CAUGHT this morning morning's minion, king-
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,-the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!"
4. "It was the Rainbow gave thee birth,
And left thee all her lovely hues;
And, as her mother's name was Tears,
So runs it in my blood to choose
For haunts the lonely pools, and keep
In company with trees that weep."
Which poet describes "The Kingfisher" in such an imaginative and beautiful way?
5. Which British Poet-Laureate is describing a hawk with these words?
"I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed.
Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.
The convenience of the high trees!
The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth's face upward for my inspection."
6. Robert Browning's poem "Home Thoughts From Abroad" mentions several bird species in its verses including whitethroat, swallow and thrush.
Which species is missing from this quotation?
"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 ___ sings on the orchard bough
In England-now!"
7. The unmistakably beautiful song of the nightingale has inspired many a creative mind but this ode uses the song to contrast mortality and immortality.
Which poet was feeling very vulnerable?
"Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain-
To thy high requiem become a sod."
8. "A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state."
This is part of a poem written by a poet who had no formal education.
Who is the angry man?
9. ""God save thee, ancient Mariner:
From the fiends, that plague thee thus! -
Why look'st thou so?" - "With my cross-bow
I shot the Albatross.""
This is just one stanza from an epic poem. Quite a few clues in there; who wrote it?
10. Here is a oft-repeated limerick:
"A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week,
But I'm damned if I see how the helican."
I used to think it was probably written by that well-known poet A Nony Mouse but I was wrong; it does have an author. Which of these people gets the credit?
Source: Author
Mutchisman
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
agony before going online.
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