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Ten Famous Epitaphs Trivia Quiz

Ten memorable inscriptions on the graves of famous people (and one fictional character's).

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

Author
tjoebigham

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
77,893

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
2665

Last 3 plays: jogreen (6/10), hellobion (5/10), adam36 (8/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What English poet wrote his epitaph thus: "When I am dead, I hope it will be said: His sins were scarlet, but his books were read"? Hint

G.K. Chesterton

Hillaire Belloc

Thomas Hood

E. C. Bentley

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Question 2 of 10

2. What two-time Oscar-winning English actress has lines from Shakespeare inscribed on a church plaque dedicated to her? Hint

Kay Kendall

Vivien Leigh

Edith Evans

Margaret Rutherford

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Question 3 of 10

3. What polar explorer has a line of Tennyson over him? Hint

Richard E. Byrd

Robert Peary

Robert Falcon Scott

Roald Amundsen

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Question 4 of 10

4. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote this line as part of his own epitaph: "Home is the sailor, home from the sea..."

True

False

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Question 5 of 10

5. What fellow Scot has a line of Stevenson's over him? Hint

James M. Barrie

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Harry Lauder

Andrew Carnegie

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Question 6 of 10

6. What English poet wrote this epitaph for himself: "Here lies one whose words were writ in water"? Hint

John Milton

John Keats

Robert Southey

William Wordsworth

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Question 7 of 10

7. What fellow poet chose from Shakespeare's "Tempest" for his? Hint

Andrew Marvell

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Percy Shelley

Richard Lovelace

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Question 8 of 10

8. What famed American compared himself in his own epitaph to an old book ready to return in a new edition? Hint

William Randolph Hearst

Elbert Hubbard

Ben Franklin

Alfred A. Knopf

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Question 9 of 10

9. What 20th century Irish poet gave his epitaph at the end of a long poem of his? Hint

Oscar Wilde

William Butler Yeats

George Moore

Blind Rafferty

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Question 10 of 10

10. What fictional woman had a Latin epitaph? Hint

Anna Karenina

Lorna Doone

Edna Pontellier

Emma Bovary

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Most Recent Scores

Dec 22 2024 : jogreen: 6/10
Nov 24 2024 : hellobion: 5/10
Nov 15 2024 : adam36: 8/10
Oct 29 2024 : GBfan: 7/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What English poet wrote his epitaph thus: "When I am dead, I hope it will be said: His sins were scarlet, but his books were read"?

Answer: Hillaire Belloc

Hood loved puns, but it's Belloc who penned the phrase.

2. What two-time Oscar-winning English actress has lines from Shakespeare inscribed on a church plaque dedicated to her?

Answer: Vivien Leigh

Best known for her Oscar roles in "Gone With The Wind" and "A Streetcar Named Desire", Leigh's first love was the stage. Her epitaph is from Shakespeare's "Anthony and Cleopatra: 'Now, death, can thou boast in thy possession a lass unparallel'd..." Leigh played Cleo.

"A private funeral was held on Wednesday the 12th at St. Mary's surrounded by hundreds of flower arrangements with tributes from family and peers. All of London's theatres switched off their marquees at 10pm for an hour of respect and requiem masses were arranged in New York. A memorial service was held at St Martin's in the Fields on August 14th, attended by her many friends and famous stars. Many felt, for her to die while she was still performing and beautiful, was how she would have wished it. Her ashes were scattered at Lake Tickerage on October 8th." (http://www.dycks.com/vivienleigh/life/grace.htm)

3. What polar explorer has a line of Tennyson over him?

Answer: Robert Falcon Scott

Scott lost to Amundsen in the race for the South Pole and he and his comrades lost their lives. But his heroic spirit in the face of death is summed up by the line from Tennyson's "Ulysses": "To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield."

4. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote this line as part of his own epitaph: "Home is the sailor, home from the sea..."

Answer: False

It should read "...home from sea..." but the misquotation still stands on Stevenson's grave in Samoa. "Requiem" is one of Stevenson's most loved works and I recited it (in its correct version) over my late father's grave.

5. What fellow Scot has a line of Stevenson's over him?

Answer: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"Steel true, Blade straight" is the line from Stevenson's "My Wife" that is on the grave of the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

6. What English poet wrote this epitaph for himself: "Here lies one whose words were writ in water"?

Answer: John Keats

Keats' words appear on a cenotaph (tablet) near his grave. He obviously thought his works wouldn't last. Happily, he was wrong!

7. What fellow poet chose from Shakespeare's "Tempest" for his?

Answer: Percy Shelley

From Ariel's famed words: "Nothing from him doth fade, but suffer a sea-change, into something rich and strange..." Very apt, since Shelley died by drowning.

8. What famed American compared himself in his own epitaph to an old book ready to return in a new edition?

Answer: Ben Franklin

"The body of Benj. Franklin, printer, lies here... but the work will not be lost, but, it is believed, appear in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author." Ben's words, though, appear on a plaque near his Philadelphia grave.

9. What 20th century Irish poet gave his epitaph at the end of a long poem of his?

Answer: William Butler Yeats

"Cast a cold eye on life, on death, Horseman, Pass By!" From Yeats, "Under Ben Bulben."

10. What fictional woman had a Latin epitaph?

Answer: Emma Bovary

At least Flaubert gave Emma these words: Sta viator: amabilen conuglor calcas ("Stay travelor, for you tread on a beloved wife.")

Source: Author tjoebigham

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