Poet Rebus and Match Two Trivia Quiz

Answer: William

Cow + Per


William Cowper was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1731, and is as famous for his hymns as for his poetry, some of which he wrote in Latin as well as English. He began writing his poems while still at school, but his hymns came later in life when he was institutionalised for depression following three suicide attempts.

He spent from 1763 to 1765 in the asylum and became a devout Christian, which is apparent in the hymns and poetry he wrote for the rest of his life. The popular quote "God moves in mysterious ways" is from his work "Light Shining out of Darkness".

He is also famous for his anti-slavery poems, the most popular being "The Negro's Complaint" in 1788. Parts of this poem were often quoted by Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement over 150 years later.

Cowper died from oedema in 1800 at age 68.

Answer: Louisa

All + Cot


Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 in Pennsylvania, USA. Although best known as a novelist, particularly for "Little Women", she was also an accomplished poet. Born into a poor family, she was required to work from an early age and was employed as a seamstress, domestic helper, governess and teacher at different periods throughout her life.

She loved to write and started penning poetry from the time she was seven. She wrote many poems about her father and her desire to travel - her poems provide much more insight into her life and dreams than her prose.

She had a stroke at the 55 and died in 1888.

Answer: Thomas

Black + Burn


Thomas Eliel Fenwick Blackburn was born in Cumberland, England in 1916. An autobiography that he wrote later in life describes an unhappy childhood in a repressive home ruled by his harsh clergyman father. It also details a mental breakdown and recovery while in his 20s.

He began studying for law but dropped out and completed a psychology course instead. He then studied and completed a degree in English which led to his teaching in several different colleges.

He wrote poetry in his spare time, but didn't publish his first collection until he was 39, "The Holy Stone" was followed by another five volumes before his death. He also wrote "The Price of an Eye" in 1961, a book reviewing other modern poets, and a musical drama called "The Judas Tree" in 1965.

He died in 1977 at age 61 from a stroke.

Answer: Alfred

Ten + Knee + Son


Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born in Lincolnshire, England in 1809 to a middle class family with royal ancestry. It is recorded that he began writing at five and continued until his death. As such, he has an enormous literary collection. His first poems were published when he was 17 in an anthology with two of his brothers which was followed up four years later with his first solo collection, "Poems Chiefly Lyrical".

Tennyson attended Cambridge, but never received his degree as his father's death meant he had to return home to help look after the family. He continued to write, but he didn't publish his masterpiece "In Memoriam A.H.H." until 1850, when he also got married and was appointed Poet Laureate. He succeeded Worsdworth and held the position until his own death - the longest ever tenure as of 2017.

He was also created Baron Tennyson by Queen Victoria in 1884, the first British peer acknowledged for writing. He died at 83 in 1892.

Answer: Raymond

Carve + Err


Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. was born in Oregon, USA in 1938. Besides his success in poetry his short stories helped to 'reinvent' the genre during 1980s America.

Born in a mill town, he followed his father into the sawmills after high school and married young. He worked at a number of menial jobs before he decided to go to college and obtain a degree. This enabled him to move into 'white-collar jobs' - working as a textbook editor, in public relations and a university teaching position.

His first short story, "The Furious Seasons", was published in 1961 and his first poetry collection, "Near Klamath", in 1968. Although he was doing well financially at this time his poems are influenced by his 'blue-collar' background. Just as he was achieving maximal success he began heavily drinking in 1973, and spent the next four years as an alcoholic until he was successfully rehabilitated.

He did, however, still use both marijuana and cocaine, and died from lung cancer in 1988 at the age of 50.

Answer: Philip

Lea + Vine


Philip Levine was born in Detroit, USA in 1928 into a working class Jewish family. He had to leave school at 14, and worked at a car factory until he was able to finish school and attend university - he finally received a Master's degree at 26. He then began an academic career teaching at Princeton, Vanderbilt and Berkeley Universities before finally settling at California State University where he spent the next 30 years until his retirement.

Although he moved among academics for most of his life, his poetry reflected his Detroit roots and the problems in the area. His first collection, "On the Edge", was published in 1968 and his last in 2009. He won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and was the US Poet Laureate for 2011.

Levine died in 2015 at 87 from pancreatic cancer.

Answer: Robert

Hay + Den


Robert Hayden (nee Asa Bundy Sheffey) was born in 1913 in Detroit, USA. He did not have a happy childhood either at home or school, and became an avid reader to escape. He won a scholarship to college to study both Spanish and English. By then the Great Depression had begun and he attended the Federal Writers' Project - a government program to employ out of work writers.

He published his first poetry collection, "Heart-Shape in the Dust", in 1940 and joined a graduate program in English Literature before taking several university teaching positions.

In 1966 he won a poetry prize at the First World Festival of Negro Arts. He was elected to the American Academy of Poets in 1975, and in 1976 was elected Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, which was the precursor to the position of US Poet Laureate, which he became the first African American writer to hold.

He died in 1980 at 66 years of age.

Answer: Charles

Kings + Lee


Charles Kingsley was born in 1819 in Devon, England. He was educated at Kings College and Cambridge, graduating in 1842 and choosing to become a minister of the Church of England. He was highly successful in this career, becoming a chaplain to Queen Victoria in 1859, a private tutor for the Prince of Wales two years later and a canon of Westminster Abbey in 1873. He was also a Professor of History at Cambridge University.

Kingsley was both a novelist and poet, and produced most of his work for younger readers. This did not stop him centering much of his work around more adult issues such as social reform and religion. In 1958 he published a highly controversial volume, "Andromeda and Other Poems", which dealt with racism and slavery in the United States.

He also travelled widely lecturing on these issues, which took a toll on his health; he died at only 55 in 1875.

Answer: Henry

Long + Fell + Low


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born to wealthy parents in 1807 in Maine, USA. Longfellow began writing as a child and had many poems published as a teenager - 40 of his minor works were written while at college. He was highly intelligent and attended Bowdoin College at 14. After graduating four years later, he became their Professor of Modern Languages until 1836, when he moved to Harvard.

It was at this time that he published his first collection of poetry, "Voices of the Night", but he was finding it hard to find time to write with all his academic duties. After his famous poem 'Evangeline' was published eight years later he decided to retire from teaching to write full time.

After retiring at 47 he spent the next 27 years as a prolific poet but was also a novelist and a renowned translator.

He died in 1882 at 75 years of age from peritonitis.

Answer: John

Mill + Ton


John Milton was born in London, England in 1608 into a prosperous family, which enabled him to be privately tutored - he was educated in Italian and Latin from a very early age. He attended Cambridge where he obtained a Master of Arts degree, intending to become an Anglican Priest.

Much of his work stems from this background, as many of his poems have complex religious themes. He is also known to have written over 80 psalms - his first recorded works are two psalms that he wrote at age 15. His first published poem was "On Shakespeare" in 1630.

After college Milton spent six years in intensive private study, and learnt to write in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch and Old English. He published one anthology in 1645 known simply as "1645 Poems"- the last book he would publish until 22 years later.

Milton spent years working for the Commonwealth of England as a translator and writer of propaganda under Oliver Cromwell. He also went blind in 1654 and had to learn to dictate his works. With the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 Milton had a warrant out for his arrest and his writings were burnt. He went into hiding until a general pardon was issued by the Crown.

The majority of his most famous work, "Paradise Lost", was written during this time and published in 1667. It received immediate acclaim, as did all his following work, including "Paradise Regained" in 1671.

Unfortunately this period did not last long as Milton died of kidney failure in 1674 at only 66.