Poetry Trivia Questions
In case you missed them, here are the past five Columbia Granger's World of Poetry trivia questions of the day.
April 3
Question:
Which two poets can be considered to have begun the English tradition of "the poetry of nature," championed by William Wordsworth in the famous "Preface affixed to Lyrical Ballads"?
Answer
April 2
Question:
Who was honored in both John Keats' "Endymion" and Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Adonais" (which also memorializes Keats)?
Answer
Thomas Chatterton. Chatterton attributed his "medieval" poems to "Thomas Rowley." The attribution was taken seriously for a brief time. Though highly prolific and about to embark upon what could have been a meteoric literary career, Chatterton committed suicide at the age of 17.
April 1
Question:
What two famous satirical imitations of classic authors were published on the same day in May 1738 by Samuel Johnsonand Alexander Pope?
Answer
Johnson's "London: a poem, in imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal" and Pope's "1738, a Dialogue something like Horace."
March 31
Question:
What British poet was confined to an insane asylum for harassing passersby in Hyde Park and demanding that they recite prayers with him?
Answer
Christopher Smart. Samuel Johnson visited Smart in the asylum, famously remarking: "He insisted on people praying with him; and I'd as lief pray with Kit Smart as any one else."
March 30
Question:
What English poem by Edward Young enjoyed widespread popularity in early eighteenth century Europe, but was mostly forgotten by later generations?
Answer
"The Complaint, or Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality" was widely translated and became a cornerstone of the French Romantic School in its time.
