Poetry Trivia Questions
In case you missed them, here are the past five Columbia Granger's World of Poetry trivia questions of the day.
January 22
January 21
Question:
What New England poet and philosopher was integral in launching Walt Whitman's career?
Answer
Ralph Waldo Emerson. Whitman, as an unknown poet, sent Emerson a copy of his manuscript. Emerson wrote back glowingly: "I greet you at the beginning of a great career." Whitman printed that quotation on the spine of the second edition of Leaves of Grass (without asking Emerson's permission). The endorsement considerably boosted Whitman's credibility.
January 20
Question:
What poem provided the title for E. M. Forster's novel Where Angels Fear to Tread and the phrase in the Elvis Presley song, "Fools rush in?"
Answer
Alexander Pope's (1688-1744) "An Essay on Criticism." ("Nay, fly to Altars; there they'll talk you dead; / For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.")
January 19
Question:
What 19th-century American poet coined the phrase "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world"?
Answer
William Ross Wallace coined the phrase in a poem of the same name ("The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is the Hand That Rules the World.") Less well-known today, Wallace was a good friend of Edgar Allan Poe, and his poetry was popular in its time. Today he is largely remembered for the aforementioned phrase, if at all.
January 18
Question:
What American poet had a vision of William Blake?
Answer
Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg claimed that Blake appeared to him in a vision in order to tell him that he was a good poet.
