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Quiz about American Poems and Poets You Should Know
Quiz about American Poems and Poets You Should Know

American Poems and Poets You Should Know Quiz


A quiz on American poems and poets. The questions will bring together some well known verse with some not as well known poets and also some well known poets with some lesser known poems. Good luck!

A multiple-choice quiz by sanremo. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
sanremo
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
358,507
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
809
Last 3 plays: Guest 172 (8/10), Guest 71 (5/10), Guest 206 (3/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. The opening lines from this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox are very well known: "Laugh and the world laughs with you; Weep and you weep alone".
What is the title of this poem?
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. American poet Alan Seeger (1888-1916) died during World War I during the Battle of the Somme, fighting for the French Foreign Legion. His most well known poem, published after his death, was a favorite of President John F. Kennedy. It has what rather sad but appropriate title? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. George P. Morris (1802-1864)was a poet, songwriter and editor. His most famous poem is often quoted by environmentalists. It was originally published in 1837 under the title "The Oak". In 1853 it was reprinted under the title it is still known by today. What is the title of this poem which sounds like a stern command to the man with the ax? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "Concord Hymn" is a well known description of the beginning of the American Revolution. What three words finish this first stanza?

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard ___
____
____."
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Edgar Allan Poe was noted for using unusual words and phrases in his work and was known for inventing new words when existing ones did not meet his needs. In what poem did Poe use the word "tintinnabulation"? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. "Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky--"

So begins the final stanza of this poem. William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)wrote his most famous poem in honor of women and motherhood. Complete the rest of the final stanza by choosing the correct final line.

"Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
_______________."
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. John Howard Payne wrote:

"Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home".

What is the title of this poem, which also became a famous song?
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Berton Braley is the author of the poem "Do It Now", a reminder to immediately praise those around you that deserve your admiration, rather than procrastinate, and possibly miss the opportunity. Twice during this poem, Braley tells us that the man we should have praised but did not, cannot read something after he is gone. What can't he read? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "Reflections on Ice-Breaking" by Ogden Nash is a tiny seven-word poem, known throughout the world. Millions of people can quote it but few know the title (or that it has a title at all), and few attribute it to Nash. Many people believe it to be a saying that has been around for a very long time and that the author is not known. So, let's finish it together. Here are the first four words - fill in the last three.

"Candy
is dandy
But ... "
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. James Whitcomb Riley was an American poet and author. One of his most famous poems tells of a little girl who comes to stay at their home to help with cooking and cleaning. At night she would tell all the children stories of how children that did not behave and mind their parents could expect that "the gobble-uns 'll git you ef you don't watch out! The title of this poem is the name of the little girl. Who was she? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The opening lines from this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox are very well known: "Laugh and the world laughs with you; Weep and you weep alone". What is the title of this poem?

Answer: Solitude

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) wrote this poem after riding on a train in a car with a woman in mourning for her dead husband. She spent the time on the train trying to comfort the woman. Wilcox was headed for an inaugural ball at the time but was so depressed after her time on the train, she could hardly manage to attend the festivities. After arriving at her destination she wrote the opening lines of the poem that would become "Solitude".

"Laugh and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone,
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own."

When she later completed the poem, she sent it into the "New York Sun" where it was published in 1883. She received five dollars for the work.
2. American poet Alan Seeger (1888-1916) died during World War I during the Battle of the Somme, fighting for the French Foreign Legion. His most well known poem, published after his death, was a favorite of President John F. Kennedy. It has what rather sad but appropriate title?

Answer: I Have a Rendezvous with Death

Alan Seeger is the uncle of folk singer Pete Seeger. He was a classmate of T. S. Eliot at Harvard. After graduating from Harvard in 1910, he moved to Greenwich Village in New York to write poetry. Later, he moved to the Latin Quarter in Paris. When the first World War broke out, he joined the French Foreign Legion (the United States did not join the war until 1917). He was killed on July 4, 1916. He had often expressed the desire to die for a glorious cause at an early age. His well known poem ends this way:

"But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous."
3. George P. Morris (1802-1864)was a poet, songwriter and editor. His most famous poem is often quoted by environmentalists. It was originally published in 1837 under the title "The Oak". In 1853 it was reprinted under the title it is still known by today. What is the title of this poem which sounds like a stern command to the man with the ax?

Answer: Woodman, Spare That Tree!

"Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough!
In youth it sheltered me,
And I'll protect it now."

This is the beginning of "Woodman, Spare That Tree!". It is quoted frequently by environmental groups still today. Morris was well regarded as a songwriter and "Woodman, Spare That Tree!" was set to music in 1837 soon after he wrote it.
4. Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "Concord Hymn" is a well known description of the beginning of the American Revolution. What three words finish this first stanza? "By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard ___ ____ ____."

Answer: round the world

Emerson (1803-1882)was an essayist, lecturer and leader of the transcendentalist movement. "Concord Hymn" established him as a poet as well. It was written for the dedication of a monument to the battle of Concord. The monument was dedicated on July 4, 1837 and "Concord Hymn" was recited and then sung by a choir as a hymn at the dedication. Emerson had moved to Concord in 1834 and his grandfather had actually witnessed the battle, so Emerson had a personal connection to the location and the event.

He died in Concord in 1882. The words "the shot heard round the world" have become a fixture in the lore of the American Revolution and perhaps the most famous words Emerson ever wrote.
5. Edgar Allan Poe was noted for using unusual words and phrases in his work and was known for inventing new words when existing ones did not meet his needs. In what poem did Poe use the word "tintinnabulation"?

Answer: The Bells

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)never saw "The Bells" published, as that did not occur until after his death in 1849. The exact year he wrote the poem is unclear. The poem is often pointed to as an example of onomatopoeic usage. A poem in four stanzas that get progressively darker; bells are first jingling and tinkling in the first stanza, but by the final stanza are moaning and groaning. It is in the lighter first stanza that Poe uses this rather unusual word.

"Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells-"

Although Poe is often credited with coining hundreds of words in his work, it is not certain that tintinnabulation is a Poe invention (a number of sources give the credit to Poe). It was used by both Dickens and Bulwer Lytton in works that were published prior to "The Bells", but Poe could still have invented the word as it is uncertain when "The Bells" was actually written.
6. "Blessings on the hand of women! Fathers, sons, and daughters cry, And the sacred song is mingled With the worship in the sky--" So begins the final stanza of this poem. William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)wrote his most famous poem in honor of women and motherhood. Complete the rest of the final stanza by choosing the correct final line. "Mingles where no tempest darkens, Rainbows evermore are hurled; For the hand that rocks the cradle _______________."

Answer: Is the hand that rules the world

William Ross Wallace (1819 - 1881) was a well-known and much respected poet in the nineteenth century. Wallace was born in Lexington, Kentucky and, after studying in Indiana and Kentucky, went to New York City to practice law. He wrote poems and novels in his spare time.

When the Civil War broke out, Wallace, a supporter of the Union, wrote some patriotic songs which were set to music and became very popular. Unfortunately, most of his work is forgotten today. By far, his most famous poem is "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle is the Hand that Rules the World".

This is Wallace's salute to women and motherhood. Entire generations may not know the name William Ross Wallace, but they know the title of this poem.
7. John Howard Payne wrote: "Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home". What is the title of this poem, which also became a famous song?

Answer: Home, Sweet Home

John Howard Payne (1791 - 1852) was an American poet as well as an author, actor, and playwright. He left college in 1808, in order to act on the stage in New York. He was immediately well received and acclaimed as an actor, and in 1813 he left for England to work in the theatre there as well. Again he was highly thought of for his on-stage performance.

He wrote dramas and contributed to operas as well, including "Clari,the Maid of Milan", which was produced by Sir Henry Bishop. "Home, Sweet Home" was included in the work, with music added to the poem by Bishop, and became a hit song in most of the English-speaking world. Payne returned to the United States in 1832.

He spent a great deal of time with the Cherokee Indians, whom he believed were one of the lost tribes of Israel.

In 1841, he was appointed American Consul to Tunis, Africa. He died there in 1852.
8. Berton Braley is the author of the poem "Do It Now", a reminder to immediately praise those around you that deserve your admiration, rather than procrastinate, and possibly miss the opportunity. Twice during this poem, Braley tells us that the man we should have praised but did not, cannot read something after he is gone. What can't he read?

Answer: His tombstone when he's dead

The final stanza of the poem is this:

"If he earns your praise - bestow it;
if you like him let him know it;
Let the words of true encouragement be said;
Do not wait till life is over
and he's underneath the clover,
For he cannot read his tombstone
when he's dead."

Berton Braley (1882 - 1966) was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He was the son of a judge who died when Berton was 7 years old. Berton published his first work, a fairy tale called "Why the Grass is Green", when he was 11. At age 18, he discovered an instruction book on how to make verse, called "The Rhymester" by Tom Hood. This was a great influence on Braley and his poetry. He was very prolific and published verse in many magazines and papers. He was also an editor, newspaper reporter, novelist, and lyricist. He wrote the words to "Wisconsin Forward Forever" a marching song written for the University of Wisconsin by John Philip Sousa. He published 20 books in his life, many of them collections of poetry.
9. "Reflections on Ice-Breaking" by Ogden Nash is a tiny seven-word poem, known throughout the world. Millions of people can quote it but few know the title (or that it has a title at all), and few attribute it to Nash. Many people believe it to be a saying that has been around for a very long time and that the author is not known. So, let's finish it together. Here are the first four words - fill in the last three. "Candy is dandy But ... "

Answer: Liquor is quicker

Frederick Ogden Nash (1902-1971)wrote this gem as well as many other humorous poems. He published 19 books of poetry. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1950. When he died the New York Times noted that his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry." His poetic style was often imitated (and often very badly) but the imitation indicates the appreciation given to his work. Generations can recite many of Nash's poems. They are short, humorous gems that bring a smile. I leave you with Nash's "A Word to Husbands"

"To keep your marriage brimming,
with love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it:
Whenever you're right, shut up."
10. James Whitcomb Riley was an American poet and author. One of his most famous poems tells of a little girl who comes to stay at their home to help with cooking and cleaning. At night she would tell all the children stories of how children that did not behave and mind their parents could expect that "the gobble-uns 'll git you ef you don't watch out! The title of this poem is the name of the little girl. Who was she?

Answer: Little Orphant Annie

James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) wrote "Little Orphant Annie", and many of the approximately 1,000 poems he composed, in dialect. These poems gave a quality of realism to the words and the dialect reflected the speech Riley heard as he grew up in central Indiana. "Little Orphant Annie" was actually based on an orphan girl named Allie Smith who came to stay with Riley's mother and the children while his father was away during the American Civil War. Riley had intended that the poem be called "Little Orphant Allie" but a mistake by the printer changed the name forever.

Riley eventually became very wealthy from his poems and was known as the "Hoosier Poet" as well as the "Children's Poet". When he died, his body lay in state under the Indiana state capital rotunda and thousands of Hoosiers walked by to pay their respects.

If you are feeling unkind toward those around you, remember this:

"You better mind yer parunts, and yer teachurs fond and dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, 'an dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!"

The ending of "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley
Source: Author sanremo

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