Averse to Verse? Trivia Quiz

Answer: William Blake

William Blake (1757 - 1827) was a British mystic poet, painter and engraver. He printed and illustrated most of his own work. Blake wrote "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience", among others, and is well remembered for his "Tyger, Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" The fall of man, and his redemption, was often the theme that inspired him, and his works inspired many others.

William S Burroughs was not a poet, but a writer of works based on the drug culture, evils of technology and death. He is usually best remembered for "Naked Lunch" published in 1959.
Edgar Rice Burroughs was the British writer of the Tarzan series and some early sci-fi.
Robert Blake was an American actor.

Answer: Baudelaire

Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), led a short, decadent, eccentric and violent life. He was a great admirer of Poe, and is remembered for his "Les Fleurs Du Mal" ("The Flowers of Evil") collection of poems. His only other known work, "Paris Spleen", was published after his death, in 1868, and consisted of about fifty poems.

Answer: Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg (1926 - 1997), was an American poet and a great influence on the 'beat generation'. The line cited is from his very long poem "Howl", in which he rages against the establishment. He also wrote "Kaddish For Naomi Ginsberg", his mother, after she died in 1956. Much of his work incited criticism and outrage, as the language was clear and strong. He was an advocate for free speech and gay rights, and later in life became a Distinguished Professor at Brooklyn College in New York.

Jack Kerouac was also one of the 'beat' writers, and his works reflect the drug scene as well as excesses of alcohol and sex. His novel "On The Road" was published in 1957.

Answer: Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Lady of Shalott lives alone in a tower, weaving, but she is cursed: "She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she..." She may not look out of her window at Camelot, but sees comings and goings outside in the reflection of her mirror. And then one day Sir Lancelot rode down to Camelot and she looked out the window at him, which brought on the curse: she left the tower, dressed in white, she lay down in a small boat after painting her name on it, and died as she floated toward Camelot. Lancelot found her and had her properly buried, though he didn't know who she was.
Englishman Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)also wrote "The Charge of The Light Brigade", "In Memoriam" {for his friend, Hallam, who died young)and "Idylls of The King".
The lady in the poem may represent one of the Elaines in Arthurian legend. The poem has been used in parts by many other authors, such as Agatha Christie in "The Mirror Cracked".

Answer: Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound (1885 - 1972) was an American poet, editor and critic. He also helped publish works by T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and many others. He was a prolific author himself and was fascinated by oriental writing which he helped to adapt in translation.

This is the last stanza from his poem "Song of The Bowmen of Shu": "The enemy is swift, we must be careful. When we set out, the willows were drooping with spring, We come back in the snow, We go slowly, we are hungry and thirsty, Our mind is full of sorrow, Who will know of our grief?" Pound wrote "Spirit Of Romance" in 1910, "Instigations" in 1920, "Indiscretions" in 1923, and many essays.

His ideas began to be influenced by fascism when he lived in Italy, and he was later arrested in the U.S. for treason after broadcasting propaganda.

At his trial in 1946 he was found to be insane, and was committed to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he remained from 1946 to 1958. On his release he returned to Italy.

Answer: William Carlos Williams

American Williams (1883 - 1963) wrote about simple things in a plain manner that was appealing to people. He was a prolific writer of novels, short stories, plays and essays. He also maintained a medical practice in Rutherford, New Jersey for many years. His "Pictures From Brueghel and Other Poems" won a Pulitzer Prize in 1963.
His poem "Complete Destruction" goes as follows: "It was an icy day. We buried the cat, Then took her box And set fire to it In the back yard. Those fleas that escaped earth and fire died by the cold."

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

"The Bells" is probably one of the most obvious uses of onomatopoeia in any poem. It begins with tinkling silver bells symbolizing a light spirit, then to golden bells for joy, then iron bells for sorrow, and finally brazen bells, 'moaning and groaning', perhaps for death. In each of the four stanzas the sound of the bells changes, just as music, from light to mellow to harsh to clamorous. Edgar lived from 1809 to 1849, when he was found in the street very ill.

He died in a hospital the following day. "The Bells" was not published until after his death.

The poem has been used as the basis for several films, plays and other musical works. Poe coined the word 'tintinnabulation' in this poem.

Answer: Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854 - 1900) was an Irish poet, playwright and novelist, though his only novel was "The Picture of Dorian Grey". Oscar was a 'bon vivant', a wit, and an outspoken flamboyant character in his day. His imprisonment for two years at hard labor in Reading Gaol broke him physically, financially and emotionally. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", from which the lines in the question come, was inspired by this terrible time of his life.

The last stanza in this long poem is: "And all men kill the thing they love, By all let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!" After his release, Wilde lived out his last years as 'Sebastian Melmoth' in Paris.

Answer: Thomas Gray

Gray's 'Elegy' was published in 1751 - he had to rush to publish as others were copying his lines as the poem was passed around. This "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is a much quoted poem which includes these lines: "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air"; "Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood"; "He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear, He gained from Heav'n ('twas all he wished) a friend." Englishman Thomas Gray lived from 1716 to 1771.

He wrote many other poems and corresponded with other writers. He also wrote "Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes."

Answer: T.S. Eliot

First published in 1922, "The Waste Land" is an extremely long poem and has been through endless criticism and controversy. It follows a vague stream-of-consciousness that is often difficult to interpret. The poem explores the stages of a soul in despair and alludes to many other literary works along the way. It was whittled down from its original length at the suggestion of Ezra Pound, and both he and Eliot scratched out many passages, made changes, and otherwise altered the work. The Waste Land may refer to a part of Arthurian legend that tells of the Fisher King who was wounded and made sterile, which was reflected in his kingdom becoming a wasteland. The poem itself ends without an agreeable resolution and is further complicated by the use of foreign phrases.
The tone of "The Waste Land": "What are the roots that clutch, Out of this stony rubbish?...I will show you fear in a handful of dust..." Harsh, unreconciled, confused, it reeks of despair.
"The Naming of Cats" (a later work): "...But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess, When you notice a cat in profound meditation, The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name..." Whimsical and light, this poem leaves one feeling that Eliot must have loved cats.