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 22
Question:
What poet's epitaph reads, "Here lies a Proof that Wit can never be / Defence enough against Mortality"?
Answer
April 21
Question:
Over whose grave did an unknown friend scrawl, in coal: "Reader, I am to let thee know, / Donne's body only lies below; / For could the grave his soul comprise, / Earth would be richer than the skies"?
Answer
April 20
Question:
What poet, when asked to compose her own epitaph, suggested, "Excuse My Dust"?
Answer
Dorothy Parker. As a matter of fact, Parker's ashes were kept in a filing cabinet for 15 years.
April 19
Question:
What poet's epitaph reads, "The communication of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living. In my beginning is my end... In my end is my beginning."
Answer
T.S. Eliot. The last lines come from the "'East Coker" section of "Four Quartets."
April 18
Question:
What poet's epitaph reads, "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, / And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, / Await alike the inevitable hour: / The paths of glory lead but to the grave"?
Answer
Thomas Gray. The lines come from Gray's most famous poem, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."
