Poetry Trivia Questions
In case you missed them, here are the past five Columbia Granger's World of Poetry trivia questions of the day. .
June 2
Question:
Who described William Blake's poem "Jerusalem," now England's unofficial national anthem, as a "perfectly mad poem"?
Answer
Robert Southey. Southey was poet laureate towards the end of Blake's life.
June 1
Question:
Jane Taylor's famous children's poem "The Star" (also known as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star") is a popular target for parody. Which is the best known?
Answer
"Lewis Carroll's. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the dormouse at the Mad Hatter's party, recites:
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a teatray in the sky. "May 31
Question:
To whom is Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Dejection: an Ode" addressed?
Answer
Sara Huchinson, William Wordsworth's sister-in-law. Coleridgewas hopelessly in love with her for some ten years. "Dejection: an Ode" was originally a letter in verse to her.
May 30
Question:
What English poet was the illustrator of the 2nd edition of Mary Wollstonecraft's book for children, Original Stories from Real Life ?
Answer
May 29
Question:
William Blake was arrested and put on trial. What was his crime?
Answer
Blake was arrested for making seditious utterances and "damning the king," while he was ejecting a drunken soldier from his garden. Blake was eventually acquitted, but he carried the sense of being persecuted into his later works.
