Poetry Trivia Questions
In case you missed them, here are the past five Columbia Granger's World of Poetry trivia questions of the day. You can also receive our poetry
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March 19
Question:
What was Alexander Pope's famous advice to aspiring poets?
Answer
"Keep your piece nine years." The advice appears in the "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot," where Pope bemoans the many poetasters who seek his advice on their poems. This mirrors the advice given by Horace in his "Ars Poetica."
March 18
Question:
Who is the first English poet to secure an independent income solely through his writing?
Answer
Alexander Pope. Between his popular satires and his translations of Homer, Pope managed to have an income sufficient to afford a small villa at Twickenham, fully equipped with an artificial grotto.
March 17
Question:
Who is regarded as an Irish national hero for penning an ironic essay suggesting that poor Irish children could be sold as food to the wealthy English?
Answer
Jonathan Swift. The essay was slyly titled "A Modest Proposal."
March 16
Question:
Who earned the following praise from Virginia Woolf: "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon [her grave] . . . For it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds"?
Answer
March 15
Question:
What 18th-century poet and libertine masqueraded as Doctor Bendo, a fertility doctor?
Answer
John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester. Wilmot eventually fell out of favor with Charles II after accidentally giving him a copy of "A Satire on Charles II."
