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Shakespeare's Music Trivia Quiz

Shakespeare uses music very cleverly to heighten moods or to change or dispel moods. I love his songs particularly when played on historic instruments. Let this quiz take you through some of his musical interludes.

A multiple-choice quiz by jeremyB. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
jeremyB

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
174,873

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
439

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. In "Twelfth Night", Feste is given some wonderful mood-setting music. Duke Orsino has been rejected by Olivia and plays at being lovelorn. He asks Feste to sing: "Come away, come away, death,
And in sad _________ let me be laid;
Fly away, fly away breath;
I am slain by a fair cruel maid."
What is the missing wood word?
Hint: Lots are sad about leylandii high hedges! Hint

yewwood

sandalwood

cypress

willow

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. "King Richard II" Act 5 Scene 5
"I have been studying how I may compare
This prison where I live unto the world: "
This soul-searching soliloquy is heightened when Richard hears music
"Music do I hear?
Music
Ha, ha! keep time: how _____ sweet music is,
When time is broke and no proportion kept!
So is it in the music of men's lives."
What is the missing word? Hint: Think Chinese meal. Hint

cheap

sour

potent

discordant

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Titania requests to be sung asleep.
"Sing me now asleep; Then to your offices and let me rest.
[The Fairies sing]
You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen.
_________, with melody
Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby:"
Who is asked to join in the lullaby? Hint: It is the poetic name for the nightingale. Hint

Procne

Philomel

Merle

Mavis

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream", TITANIA
when enamoured of Nick Bottom says
"What, wilt thou hear some music,
my sweet love?
BOTTOM
I have a reasonable good ear in music. Let's have
the tongs and the bones."
What are 'the tongs and the bones'? Hint

pan-pipes

bells

the human voice in song

folk percussion

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. In "As You Like It", Duke Senior in exile in Arden asks Lord Amiens to sing:
"Welcome; fall to: I will not trouble you
As yet, to question you about your fortunes.
Give us some music; and, good cousin, sing."
AMIENS
"Blow, blow, thou winter wind.
Thou art not so unkind
As man's __________;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly"
What is the failing missing from the song?
Hint:You should be thankful for my hints. Hint

melancholy

rejection

vicissitude

ingratitude

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. From "As You Like It" Touchstone and the pages sing:
"It was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
That o'er the green corn-field did pass
In the spring time, the only pretty _____
_____,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding:
Sweet lovers love the spring."
What are the missing words?
Hint: Think engagements and weddings. Hint

ring time

ring rhyme

swing time

sing rhyme

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. From "Othello", DESDEMONA sings as she gets ready for bed
"The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,
Sing all a green _______:
Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee,
Sing ______, ______, _______:
The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur'd her moans;
Sing ______, ______, _______;
Her salt tears fell from her, and soften'd the stones;"
This is known as the _______ song and heightens the tragic death about to befall her at Othello's hands. What is the missing word?
Hint: She may have been near tears. Hint

titwillow

tom-tit

pillow

willow

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. In "The Tempest" shipwrecked FERDINAND muses:
"Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth?
It sounds no more: and sure, it waits upon
Some god o' the island."
[ARIEL sings]
"Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are ______ that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange."
What is the missing word?
Hint: Think cultured. Hint

stones

starfish

opals

pearls

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. In "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" Julia has to listen while her love-rival is extolled in song.
"Who is Silvia? what is she,
That all our swains _______ her?
Holy, fair and wise is she;
The heaven such grace did lend her,
That she might admired be.
Is she kind as she is fair?
For beauty lives with kindness"
Find the missing word. Hint: I recommend you study the clue. Hint

commend

attend

adore

implore

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. In " The Merchant of Venice" there is music, whilst BASSANIO comments on the caskets to himself.
"Tell me where is fancy bred,
Or in the heart, or in the head?
How begot, how _______?
Reply, reply.
It is engender'd in the eyes,
With gazing fed; and fancy dies
In the cradle where it lies.
Let us all ring fancy's knell
I'll begin it,--Ding, dong, bell."
This song makes us reflect on the love between Portia and Bassanio but what word is missing? Hint: Are you fed up with the clues by now? Hint

nourished

flourished

succoured

generated

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In "Twelfth Night", Feste is given some wonderful mood-setting music. Duke Orsino has been rejected by Olivia and plays at being lovelorn. He asks Feste to sing: "Come away, come away, death, And in sad _________ let me be laid; Fly away, fly away breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid." What is the missing wood word? Hint: Lots are sad about leylandii high hedges!

Answer: cypress

"FESTE: continues
"My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
O, prepare it!
My part of death, no one so true
Did share it."
Cypress was actually a black material like crape.
Orsino eventually finds true love with Viola.

2. "King Richard II" Act 5 Scene 5 "I have been studying how I may compare This prison where I live unto the world: " This soul-searching soliloquy is heightened when Richard hears music "Music do I hear? Music Ha, ha! keep time: how _____ sweet music is, When time is broke and no proportion kept! So is it in the music of men's lives." What is the missing word? Hint: Think Chinese meal.

Answer: sour

I found a resonance here with Coward's "How potent cheap music is" from "Private Lives", which is spoken while one of Coward's own songs is playing. In both these cases the music is from offstage but really helps re-inforce the mood.

3. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Titania requests to be sung asleep. "Sing me now asleep; Then to your offices and let me rest. [The Fairies sing] You spotted snakes with double tongue, Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen; Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong, Come not near our fairy queen. _________, with melody Sing in our sweet lullaby; Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby:" Who is asked to join in the lullaby? Hint: It is the poetic name for the nightingale.

Answer: Philomel

In the legend of the rape of Philomel by Tereus, Philomel becomes the nightingale (to make up for having her tongue cut out) and Procne the swallow. Tereus is turned into a lapwing, and his infant son becomes a cock pheasant.
The merle is poetic for the blackbird and mavis for the song thrush.

4. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream", TITANIA when enamoured of Nick Bottom says "What, wilt thou hear some music, my sweet love? BOTTOM I have a reasonable good ear in music. Let's have the tongs and the bones." What are 'the tongs and the bones'?

Answer: folk percussion

Bottom's choice of music adds to the incongruity of the scene. The tongs and the bones were a folk percussion instrument, which made a loud clacking sound which would have cut throough the fairy music in no uncertain fashion.

5. In "As You Like It", Duke Senior in exile in Arden asks Lord Amiens to sing: "Welcome; fall to: I will not trouble you As yet, to question you about your fortunes. Give us some music; and, good cousin, sing." AMIENS "Blow, blow, thou winter wind. Thou art not so unkind As man's __________; Thy tooth is not so keen, Because thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude. Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly" What is the failing missing from the song? Hint:You should be thankful for my hints.

Answer: ingratitude

This downbeat song reflects the sense of melancholy which pervades the court in exile despite all the comedy. Remember Duke Senior has been deposed and he and his court have fled from his usurping younger brother.

6. From "As You Like It" Touchstone and the pages sing: "It was a lover and his lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, That o'er the green corn-field did pass In the spring time, the only pretty _____ _____, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding: Sweet lovers love the spring." What are the missing words? Hint: Think engagements and weddings.

Answer: ring time

As Touchstone says "Truly, young gentlemen, though there was no great
matter in the ditty, yet the note was very untuneable."

7. From "Othello", DESDEMONA sings as she gets ready for bed "The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree, Sing all a green _______: Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee, Sing ______, ______, _______: The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur'd her moans; Sing ______, ______, _______; Her salt tears fell from her, and soften'd the stones;" This is known as the _______ song and heightens the tragic death about to befall her at Othello's hands. What is the missing word? Hint: She may have been near tears.

Answer: willow

This seems similar to me to Ko-Ko's song from Gilbert and Sullivan's "Mikado":
"On a tree by a river a little tom-tit
Sang "Willow, titwillow, titwillow"
And I said to him, "Dicky-bird, why do you sit
Singing 'Willow, titwillow, titwillow'"
So I tried to misdirect you....well it confuses me!
Paul Barker's opera, "The Pillow Song" is based on the extraordinary life of Sei Shonagan, a tenth century Japanese court lady.

8. In "The Tempest" shipwrecked FERDINAND muses: "Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth? It sounds no more: and sure, it waits upon Some god o' the island." [ARIEL sings] "Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are ______ that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange." What is the missing word? Hint: Think cultured.

Answer: pearls

Ferdinand continues:
"The ditty does remember my drown'd father.
This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owes. I hear it now above me."
This song, sung ethereally by Ariel, adds to the magic of the island, which is "full of noises".

9. In "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" Julia has to listen while her love-rival is extolled in song. "Who is Silvia? what is she, That all our swains _______ her? Holy, fair and wise is she; The heaven such grace did lend her, That she might admired be. Is she kind as she is fair? For beauty lives with kindness" Find the missing word. Hint: I recommend you study the clue.

Answer: commend

"HOST: How now! are you sadder than you were before? How
do you, man? the music likes you not.
JULIA (dressed as a boy): You mistake; the musician likes me not.
HOST: Why, my pretty youth?
JULIA: He plays false, father."
Julia is eventually reunited with Proteus and Silvia with his friend Valentine.

10. In " The Merchant of Venice" there is music, whilst BASSANIO comments on the caskets to himself. "Tell me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head? How begot, how _______? Reply, reply. It is engender'd in the eyes, With gazing fed; and fancy dies In the cradle where it lies. Let us all ring fancy's knell I'll begin it,--Ding, dong, bell." This song makes us reflect on the love between Portia and Bassanio but what word is missing? Hint: Are you fed up with the clues by now?

Answer: nourished

All is well as Bassanio chooses the lead casket and wins Portia's hand.

Source: Author jeremyB

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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