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Quiz about Poetry Of William Butler Yeats

Poetry Of William Butler Yeats Quiz

I give you some lines from the works of William Butler Yeats and you give me the title. I have provided some interesting facts for each question about the poems in question and the life of Yeats.

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

Author
gcholden

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
266,121

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
741

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. From which poem are these the last four lines?
"Have you made greatness your companion,
Although it be for children that you sigh;
These are the clouds about the fallen sun,
The majesty that shuts his burning eye." Hint

All Things Can Tempt Me

No Second Troy

Against Unworthy Praise

These Are The Clouds

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. From which poem is this the first verse?
"Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on. There is no obstacle
But Gregory's wood and one bare hill
Whereby the haystack- and roof-levelling wind,
Bred on the Atlantic, can be stayed;
And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom that is on my mind." Hint

The Stolen Child

Towards Break Of Day

A Prayer For My Daughter

An Image From A Past Life

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. From which poem are these lines?
"Swear by what the sages spoke
Round the Mareotic Lake
That the Witch of Atlas knew,
Spoke and set the cocks a-crow." Hint

The Black Tower

Vacillation

Why Not Should Old Men Be Mad?

Under Ben Bulben

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. These lines are taken from which poem?
"Around me the images of thirty years:
An ambush; pilgrims at the water-side;
Casement upon trial, half hidden by the bars,
Guarded; Griffith staring in hysterical pride;
Kevin O'Higgins' countenance that wears
A gentle questioning look that cannot hide
A soul incapable of remorse or rest;
A revolutionary soldier kneeling to be blessed;" Hint

The Municipal Gallery Revisited

A Model for the Laureate

Those Images

The Statues

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. From which poem have these lines been taken?
"A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast." Hint

Among School Children

All Souls' Night

Sailing to Byzantium

Leda and The Swan

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. This is the first stanza from which poem?
"With the old kindness, the old distinguished grace,
She lies, her lovely piteous head amid dull red hair
Propped upon pillows, rouge on the pallor of her face.
She would not have us sad because she is lying there,
And when she meets our gaze her eyes are laughter-lit,
Her speech a wicked tale that we may vie with her,
Matching our broken-hearted wit against her wit,
Thinking of saints and of Petronius Arbiter."
Hint

The Wild Swans at Coole

The People

Upon a Dying Lady

A Deep-Sworn Vow

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. These are the first few lines from which of Yeats' works?
"I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;" Hint

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

The Cold Heaven

In Memory Of Major Robert Gregory

On Being Asked For A War Poem

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. These lines come from which of Yeats' short works?
"Dance there upon the shore;
What need do you have to care
For wind or water's roar?" Hint

Running to Paradise

A Memory of Youth

To a Child Dancing in the Wind

Two Years Later

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Which of Yeats' political works are these lines from?
"What need you, being come to sense,
But fumble in a greasy till
And add the halfpence to the pence
And prayer to shivering prayer, until
You have dried the marrow from the bone?
For men were born to pray and save;
Romantic Ireland's dead and gone,
It's with O'Leary in the grave." Hint

To A Friend

Easter 1916

September 1913

Pardon, Old Fathers

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. From which poem have I taken these lines?
"Come near, come near, come near - Ah, leave me still
A little space for the rose-breath to fill!
Lest I no more hear common things that crave;" Hint

Fergus and the Druid

The Man Who Dreamed of Faeryland

The Rose of the World

To the Rose Upon the Rood of Time

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. From which poem are these the last four lines? "Have you made greatness your companion, Although it be for children that you sigh; These are the clouds about the fallen sun, The majesty that shuts his burning eye."

Answer: These Are The Clouds

In the seventh line of this poem, "And therefore, friend, if your great race were run", Yeats refers to his friend Lady Gregory. She and Yeats first met on a visit to Lady Gregory's neighbour Edward Martyn. The friendship between the three led to the founding of the Irish Literary Theatre in 1899.

2. From which poem is this the first verse? "Once more the storm is howling, and half hid Under this cradle-hood and coverlid My child sleeps on. There is no obstacle But Gregory's wood and one bare hill Whereby the haystack- and roof-levelling wind, Bred on the Atlantic, can be stayed; And for an hour I have walked and prayed Because of the great gloom that is on my mind."

Answer: A Prayer For My Daughter

"A Prayer For My Daughter" was written for his daughter. Anne Butler Yeats was born in 1919. Her mother, George Hyde-Lees, was 24 when Yeats proposed. They had met through occult circles.

3. From which poem are these lines? "Swear by what the sages spoke Round the Mareotic Lake That the Witch of Atlas knew, Spoke and set the cocks a-crow."

Answer: Under Ben Bulben

The final passage of this poem is cut on Yeats' gravestone. It reads:
"Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!"

4. These lines are taken from which poem? "Around me the images of thirty years: An ambush; pilgrims at the water-side; Casement upon trial, half hidden by the bars, Guarded; Griffith staring in hysterical pride; Kevin O'Higgins' countenance that wears A gentle questioning look that cannot hide A soul incapable of remorse or rest; A revolutionary soldier kneeling to be blessed;"

Answer: The Municipal Gallery Revisited

The Municipal Gallery aka Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery is an art gallery founded by the Dublin City Council which is located in Charlemont House, Dublin. The poem describes Yeats' reactions to certain paintings by Sir John Lavery, Sean Keating, J.S. Sargent, his own father and others.

5. From which poem have these lines been taken? "A sudden blow: the great wings beating still Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill, He holds her helpless breast upon his breast."

Answer: Leda and The Swan

This poem is based on the Greek myth in which Leda was ravished by Zeus in the form of a swan. As a result of this coupling, the twins Helen and Pollux were born. This poem recalls the Trojan War that rose from Helen's beauty, and the murder of Agamemnon by his wife.

6. This is the first stanza from which poem? "With the old kindness, the old distinguished grace, She lies, her lovely piteous head amid dull red hair Propped upon pillows, rouge on the pallor of her face. She would not have us sad because she is lying there, And when she meets our gaze her eyes are laughter-lit, Her speech a wicked tale that we may vie with her, Matching our broken-hearted wit against her wit, Thinking of saints and of Petronius Arbiter."

Answer: Upon a Dying Lady

This lovely poem was inspired by the actress Mrs. Mabel Wright, who died of cancer in 1916. Mabel Wright was close to her brother Aubrey Beardsley. She later married actor George Bealby Wright.

7. These are the first few lines from which of Yeats' works? "I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate, Those that I guard I do not love;"

Answer: An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

The airman in this poem is actually the Major Robert Gregory seen in the title "In Memory of Major Robert Gregory." He died on the 23rd of January, 1918 in Italy, at the age of 37, when an Italian pilot mistakenly shot him down. William Robert Gregory was the only child of William Henry Gregory and Lady Gregory.

He was an associate of Yeats, and his death had a lasting effect on the poet becoming the subject of no less than four of his poems. These include the two already mentioned and also "Shepherd and Goatherd" and "Reprisals."

8. These lines come from which of Yeats' short works? "Dance there upon the shore; What need do you have to care For wind or water's roar?"

Answer: To a Child Dancing in the Wind

The child referred to in this short poem is Iseult, the daughter of Maude Gonne. Yeats had a complex relationship with both these women. Yeats and Gonne first met in 1886. Over the years, Yeats became obsessed with her beauty and her outspoken manner, and she later came to have a significant effect on his poetry. Yeats went on to propose to Gonne five times over a number of years.

She rejected every one. The last proposal came in 1916, when Yeats was 51 and quite determined to settle down and produce an heir.

A few months later he then proposed to Iseult and was also rejected. That September he proposed to George Hyde-Lees and the rest is history.

9. Which of Yeats' political works are these lines from? "What need you, being come to sense, But fumble in a greasy till And add the halfpence to the pence And prayer to shivering prayer, until You have dried the marrow from the bone? For men were born to pray and save; Romantic Ireland's dead and gone, It's with O'Leary in the grave."

Answer: September 1913

The Dublin Lockout in 1913 was the most severe and significant industrial dispute in Irish history. Approximately 20,000 workers went up against 300 employers with the central dispute being the workers' right to unionize. In this poem Yeats attacks the employers who were against James Larkin's attempts to organize the union.

10. From which poem have I taken these lines? "Come near, come near, come near - Ah, leave me still A little space for the rose-breath to fill! Lest I no more hear common things that crave;"

Answer: To the Rose Upon the Rood of Time

"To the Rose Upon the Rood of Time" was written in 1892. The title suggests the combination of the Rose and the Cross in Rosicrucianism. The Rosicrucian Order is a legendary esoteric order with its roots in the western mystery tradition. It is an hermitic order viewed as a "College of Invisibles".

Source: Author gcholden

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