Poetry Trivia Questions
In case you missed them, here are the past five Columbia Granger's World of Poetry trivia questions of the day. .
May 13
Question:
What American poem lead to an obscenity trial in 1957?
Answer
"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg. The Customs Office seized copies of the poem as they were being imported from England, and sued the publisher, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, for trying to distribute obscene material. The American Civil Liberties Union came to Ferlinghetti's defense and eventually won the case.
May 12
Question:
What poet is listed on a Top Banned and Challenged Books list?
Answer
Shel Silverstein. He is the only poet on the list for a work of verse.
May 11
Question:
What classic of Middle English literature had only appeared in expurgated editions (the lurid content was removed) in the United States until 1929?
Answer
May 10
Question:
How was it that Caedmon, the Anglo-Saxon author of one of the only extant pieces of Old English poetry, became a poet?
Answer
According to the Venerable Bede, Caedmon was an illiterate laborer who would flee banquets when the revelers would pass around a harp and sing. One time, having fled to the barn, he received in a dream the gift of poetry. However, this gift could only be used towards devotional poetry. As a result we have his hymns, but none of the wild lyrics sung by his co-revelers.
May 9
Question:
What American poet was described by James Russell Lowell as being "three fifths genius, two fifths fudge"?
Answer
