FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!

Quiz about The Ten Most Anthologized Poems

The Ten Most Anthologized Poems Quiz

William Harmon edited a book entitled "The Top 500 Poems", which contains all the top 500 English-language poems, as determined by how frequently each poem has been anthologized. Here are questions about the top ten of those 500 poems.

A multiple-choice quiz by chessart. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
chessart

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
310,438

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
2274

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. At number ten is a poem entitled "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time". This was written by an Englishman who died in 1674 at the age of 83. Who was this poet? Hint

Robert Herrick

John Donne

Wilfred Owen

John Dryden

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. At number nine is the poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci", by John Keats. What is unusual about this poem? Hint

Keats wrote two versions of it.

It contains no capitalization.

It contains no punctuation.

Keats denied writing it.

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. At number eight is Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach". In which country is this beach which Arnold made famous by his wonderful poem? Hint

Ireland

United States

England

Scotland

4. Weighing in at number seven is "Kubla Khan", which begins with the familiar lines, "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, A stately pleasure-dome decree." Who is the author of this poem, a poet who also wrote "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"? Hint

Gerard Manley Hopkins

William Butler Yeats

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. The great Robert Frost wrote many beloved poems, but the one which made the top ten, at number six, was his "Stopping by Woods on a _______ Evening". Which adjective goes in the blank?

Answer: (One Word)

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. At number five is a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, a poem which begins.
"Glory be to God for dappled things--
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;".
What is the name of this poem? Hint

Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord

The Habit of Perfecton

Spring

Pied Beauty

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. There couldn't be a top ten list without Shakespeare. At number seven we have a Shakespearean sonnet, entitled "That ___________ Thou Mayst in Me Behold". What goes in the blank? Hint

Time of Year

Utter Despair

Look of Love

Enigmatic Smile

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. At number three is a poem by John Keats, which is an ode to a particular season. Which season is Keats writing about with his poem which starts, "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness"? Hint

spring

winter

summer

autumn

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. At number two is "Sir Patrick Spens", written by an anonymous author. Who was the character Sir Patrick Spens in this poem? Hint

a knight

a baker

an actor

a sailor

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. And at number one (drum roll please), we have William Blake's "The Tiger", which begins "Tyger, Tyger, burning bright, In the _______ of the night." What goes in the blank? Hint

forests

bleakness

darkness

heat

(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

Select a User ID:

Choose a Password:

Your Email:

Most Recent Scores

Nov 17 2024 : Guest 24: 5/10
Sep 28 2024 : Guest 174: 8/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. At number ten is a poem entitled "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time". This was written by an Englishman who died in 1674 at the age of 83. Who was this poet?

Answer: Robert Herrick

Herrick's poem starts "Gather you rose-buds while ye may"; today we might say, "Make hay while the sun shines", or "You only go around once". Herrick also wrote the number fourteen poem, called "Upon Julia's Clothes".

2. At number nine is the poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci", by John Keats. What is unusual about this poem?

Answer: Keats wrote two versions of it.

Critics do not agree on which version is better, so both versions are included in Harmon's anthology.

3. At number eight is Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach". In which country is this beach which Arnold made famous by his wonderful poem?

Answer: England

Dover is an English port city located at the narrowest point of the English Channel. A famous part of the poem goes "the cliffs of England stand, glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay."

Answer: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Coleridge claimed that "Kubla Khan" was inspired by an opium-induced dream. Coleridge fought an opium addiction for much of his adult life, before dying in 1834 at the age of 61.

5. The great Robert Frost wrote many beloved poems, but the one which made the top ten, at number six, was his "Stopping by Woods on a _______ Evening". Which adjective goes in the blank?

Answer: Snowy

The famous last verse reads:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."

6. At number five is a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, a poem which begins. "Glory be to God for dappled things-- For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;". What is the name of this poem?

Answer: Pied Beauty

Hopkins was a Jesuit priest whose poems generally glorify God. None of his poems were published in his lifetime (1844-1889), but they have become more and more recognized and appreciated as time goes on. The wrong choices are all other poems by Hopkins.

7. There couldn't be a top ten list without Shakespeare. At number seven we have a Shakespearean sonnet, entitled "That ___________ Thou Mayst in Me Behold". What goes in the blank?

Answer: Time of Year

The first stanza is:
"That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon the boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs where late the sweet birds sang."

I would have thought "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" would be the most popular Shakespearean sonnet, but it comes in at "only" number 23.

8. At number three is a poem by John Keats, which is an ode to a particular season. Which season is Keats writing about with his poem which starts, "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness"?

Answer: autumn

"To Autumn" is one of the six great odes written by Keats in 1819. The subjects of the other five are a Grecian urn, indolence, melancholy, nightingale, and psyche.

9. At number two is "Sir Patrick Spens", written by an anonymous author. Who was the character Sir Patrick Spens in this poem?

Answer: a sailor

Spens was a sailor whom the King sent on a voyage to Norway. On the way back the ship ran into a storm and sank.

10. And at number one (drum roll please), we have William Blake's "The Tiger", which begins "Tyger, Tyger, burning bright, In the _______ of the night." What goes in the blank?

Answer: forests

The next two lines are "What immortal hand or eye, Could frame they fearful symmetry." The last stanza is identical to the first one, except that "Could" is changed to "Dare".

Source: Author chessart

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.