Poet Tree Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ernest Lawrence Thayer

"Casey at the Bat" is a narrative poem written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (1863-1940); the full title is "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888". Thayer was from Massachusetts, and attended Harvard University where he was editor of the "Harvard Lampoon".

His story is about baseball and was first published in the San Francisco Daily Examiner on June 3, 1888, under the pen name 'Phinn'. It tells of the fate of "the mighty Casey" and his team, the Mudville Nine.

Answer: William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) was a British poet born in Gloucester, England, who penned the short Victorian poem "Invictus" in 1875. Originally untitled, the poem was published in 1888 in the "Book of Verses", in the section 'Life and Death (Echoes)'. It is an inspirational verse which has the lines "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul".

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

Poet and master of the macabre, Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849), is best known for his POEtry and short stories, e.g., "The Raven" and "The Pit and the Pendulum". His life was not a happy one, as illustrated in his comment "I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity". "Annabel Lee" is Poe's last complete poem, originally published in October 1849.

As with many of his works, it deals with the theme of death; in this case, it is the demise of a beautiful woman.

Answer: Walt Whitman

"Song of Myself" was included in the poetry collection "Leaves of Grass", by Walt Whitman (1819-1892). Whitman's poetry incorporated the elements of both trancendentalism and realism, and he is sometimes called 'the father of free verse'. He published "Leaves of Grass" in 1855 with his own money and, instead of a name facing the title page, there was an engraved portrait.

The first poem, "Song of Myself', was originally untitled. Its theme is about the unpalatable conditions which existed before the Civil War, including a passage about a multi-racial slave.

Answer: A.E. Housman

Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) was a British scholar and poet. He was a recluse, once having been quoted as saying "Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink for fellows whom it hurts to think". "When I Was One and Twenty" was originally untitled, i.e., Poem XIII, and was published in "A Shropshire Lad" in 1896.

As with many authors, the primary theme running through his works was time and the inevitability of death.

Answer: Robert Browning

Robert Browning (1812-1889) was a Victorian poet and playwright, and the author of the 'dramatic monologue' "My Last Duchess". The poem was published in 1842 in Browning's book of poems called "Dramatic Lyrics". The verse was written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter. Browning experimented with psychological realism and harsh sounding language in his works, a major departure from the flowery poetry of the Romantic era. "My Last Duchess" is a fictional speech by an unnamed Renaissance Duke, but based on a real life psychopath who may have murdered his wife.

Answer: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I don't know if they still do it nowadays but, 'back in the day', all the teachers made their pupils memorize "The Village Blacksmith"..."Under a spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands". The lyric poem was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), and first published in 1840. One of America's most famous poets, Longfellow's other works include "Paul Revere's Ride" (another one we had to learn by rote), "The Song of Hiawatha" and "Evangeline".

Answer: Robert Frost

"The Road Not Taken" was a poem published in 1916 in the collection "Mountain Interval". The poet, one of America's favorites, was Robert Frost (1874-1963), well-known for his realistic descriptions of country life, and his use of colloquial speech. "The Road Not Taken" is NOT, as many seem to think, the road less traveled, i.e., "the passing there/Had worn them really about the same".

In fact, Frost wrote the poem as a joke after walking with friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas, who was chronically indecisive.

It is more about how a time in the present will be perceived in the future.

Answer: Robert W. Service

Robert W. Service (1874-1958) was a Scottish-Canadian novelist and poet who was often called "the Bard of the Yukon". "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" is a narrative poem published from Service's first book, "The Songs of a Sourdough or Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses", in 1907 in Canada. In the poem, it seems that 'Dangerous Dan McGrew' and his sweetheart "known as Lou", met up with a mysterious stranger in a bar one night, with a very unhappy result.
As an aside, Service even appeared as an actor in the 1942 film "The Spoilers" with Marlene Dietrich.

Answer: Allen Ginsberg

"America" is a 1956 poem written by Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), a poet who represented the 'Beat Generation' of poets of the 1950s, along with Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. "Howl" (1956) may be his best known work where he says "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked". I chose "America" because it is an epic rant where the author argues not with another person, but directly with the country itself; it seemed particularly timely and appropriate.