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Lines from Robinson Jeffers Trivia Quiz

Once considered America's greatest writer, Robinson Jeffers wrote powerful poems with lines that can still move people. How many can you recognize?

A multiple-choice quiz by NormanW5. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
NormanW5

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
219,982

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
126

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Perhaps Jeffers' most anthologized poem is his politically controversial "Shine, Perishing Republic." Can you recognize which line completes this stanza?

"But for my children, I would have them keep their distance from the thickening center; corruption
Never has been compulsory, _________________________________" Hint

one remembers the ages of stone and the age of bronze.

neither the narrowing mind nor the tyranny.

and man's griefs and rages are quickly forgotten.

when the cities lie at the monster's feet there are left the mountains.

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Question 2 of 10

2. Jeffers was cynical, but also gifted at find good results in bad situations. These incomplete lines are from "The Bloody Sire."

"Who would remember _______________
Lacking the terrible halo of spears?
Who formed Christ but ____________,
The cruel and bloody victories of Caesar?" Hint

Plato's "Republic" / the tyranny of Rome

Helen's face / Herod and Caesar

the great Alexander / the Maccabee's rebellion

the Mother of God / Caesar Augustus

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Question 3 of 10

3. In "The Excesses of God," Jeffers argues that humanity knows God through his "high superflousness." With which concept does Jeffers follow these powerful lines?

" . . . but to fling
Rainbows over the rain
And beauty above the moon, and secret rainbows
On the domes of deep sea-shells,
And make the necessary embrace of breeding
Beautiful also as fire,
Not even the weeds to multiply without blossom
Nor the birds without music:
There is the great humaneness at the heart of things,
The extravagant kindness, . . ." Hint

Generosity is not natural.

God is excessive when cruel, too!

Nature is God, and excess is natural.

Humans would do the same if we could.

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Question 4 of 10

4. In "Original Sin," Jeffers contrasts the "human dawn" with a natural dawn. Which line does NOT follow in the next few after this comparison?

" . . . Meanwhile the intense color and nobility of sunrise,
Rose and gold and amber, flowed up the sky. Wet rocks were shining, a little wind
Stirred the leaves of the forest and the marsh flag-flowers; the soft valley between the low hills
Became as beautiful as the sky; while in its midst, hour after hour, the happy hunters
Roasted their living meat slowly to death." Hint

I would rather / Be a worm in a wild apple than a son of man.

And not fear death; it is the only way to be cleansed.

We might remember / not to hate any person, all are vicious

Who is the God of the dawn? Choose Him carefully.

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Question 5 of 10

5. In "To the Stone-Cutters," Jeffers addresses the familiar poetic theme of death, and the human hope to live on at least in memories. Here is the beginning of the poem:

"Stone-cutters fighting time with marble, you foredefeated
Challengers of oblivion
Eat cynical earnings, knowing rock splits, records fall down,
The square-limbed Roman letters
Scale in the thaws, wear in the rain."

How does the poem end?

"Yet stones have stood for a thousand years, and pained thoughts found
___________________________."
Hint

The comfort of well-earned oblivion.

The honey of peace in old poems.

The joy of living in grandchildren.

Old lovers in clouds of stars.

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Question 6 of 10

6. All of these lines are in Jeffers' poem "To Death." Which is the poem's opening line? Hint

I think of you as a great king, cold and austere;

You are the arbiter of games and bestower of prizes.

I think of you as a mean little servant, but steward of the estate,

We are intelligent too; we shall turn and bow down our heads.

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Question 7 of 10

7. In his beautiful poem "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones," Jeffers finds a secluded clearing wounded deer go to die in. What does he say directly after these lines?

". . . here they have water for the awful thirst
And peace to die in; dense green laurel and grim cliff
Make sanctuary, and sweet wind blows upward from the deep gorge.--" Hint

For the fleet and the proud, death is a welcome home.

I wish my bones were with theirs.

What can they win with their lives but eternal peace?

We have been given life and have used it.

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Question 8 of 10

8. Choose the line that finishes the first stanza of "For Una":

"I built her a tower when I was young--
Sometime she will die--
I built it with my hands, I hung
Stones in the sky.

Old but still strong I climb the stone--
Sometime she will die--
Climb the steep rough steps alone,
And weep in the sky
__________" Hint

Sometimes at the last gasp / comes peace to every soul.

May I join her soon in sleep.

Never weep, never weep.

I must not fear death; / it is the only way to be cleansed.

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. This line, perhaps Jeffers' most famous, caused him great trouble.

"I'd sooner, ___________________________; but the great redtail
Had nothing left but unable misery
From the bone too shattered for mending . . ." Hint

accept the penalties, kill a man than a hawk

if I could have forgotten, have passed him by

given the skill, have tended the hawk

had he less pride, have given him freedom

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. In Jeffers' well-known poem "The Purse-Seine," he describes a fishing scene from near his home:

". . . the motorboat circles the gleaming shoal and drifts out her seine-net. They close the circle
And purse the bottom of the net, then with great labor haul it in.
I cannot tell you
How beautiful the scene is, and a little terrible . . ."

What does Jeffers' poem compare this scene to? Hint

How we work to collect troubles for ourselves

A wide city he saw at night from a mountaintop

The work of finding words that will grow into poems

Recess at his Carmel neighborhood grade school

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Perhaps Jeffers' most anthologized poem is his politically controversial "Shine, Perishing Republic." Can you recognize which line completes this stanza? "But for my children, I would have them keep their distance from the thickening center; corruption Never has been compulsory, _________________________________"

Answer: when the cities lie at the monster's feet there are left the mountains.

All the poems in this quiz can be found in "Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems." This inexpensive paperback, published by Vintage, makes an excellent introduction to Jeffers.

2. Jeffers was cynical, but also gifted at find good results in bad situations. These incomplete lines are from "The Bloody Sire." "Who would remember _______________ Lacking the terrible halo of spears? Who formed Christ but ____________, The cruel and bloody victories of Caesar?"

Answer: Helen's face / Herod and Caesar

The last line, and the 'moral of the story,' is "Old violence is not too old to beget new values."

3. In "The Excesses of God," Jeffers argues that humanity knows God through his "high superflousness." With which concept does Jeffers follow these powerful lines? " . . . but to fling Rainbows over the rain And beauty above the moon, and secret rainbows On the domes of deep sea-shells, And make the necessary embrace of breeding Beautiful also as fire, Not even the weeds to multiply without blossom Nor the birds without music: There is the great humaneness at the heart of things, The extravagant kindness, . . ."

Answer: Humans would do the same if we could.

This poem is a good example of Jeffers' panentheism. Theistically, Panentheism and Pantheism are different. Pantheism believes that all things make up God, or that God and Nature are One. Panentheism, on the other hand, believes that God is in all things but is different as well. Some panentheists say God is Other, some say God is physical nature's Soul, some say God contains Nature.

4. In "Original Sin," Jeffers contrasts the "human dawn" with a natural dawn. Which line does NOT follow in the next few after this comparison? " . . . Meanwhile the intense color and nobility of sunrise, Rose and gold and amber, flowed up the sky. Wet rocks were shining, a little wind Stirred the leaves of the forest and the marsh flag-flowers; the soft valley between the low hills Became as beautiful as the sky; while in its midst, hour after hour, the happy hunters Roasted their living meat slowly to death."

Answer: Who is the God of the dawn? Choose Him carefully.

Although Jeffers was not a Christian, his father was a Presbyterian theologian. His poems are full of concepts and vocabulary, like 'original sin,' taken from his upbringing.

5. In "To the Stone-Cutters," Jeffers addresses the familiar poetic theme of death, and the human hope to live on at least in memories. Here is the beginning of the poem: "Stone-cutters fighting time with marble, you foredefeated Challengers of oblivion Eat cynical earnings, knowing rock splits, records fall down, The square-limbed Roman letters Scale in the thaws, wear in the rain." How does the poem end? "Yet stones have stood for a thousand years, and pained thoughts found ___________________________."

Answer: The honey of peace in old poems.

When in doubt, assume a poet will sneak in a reference to poetry.

6. All of these lines are in Jeffers' poem "To Death." Which is the poem's opening line?

Answer: I think of you as a great king, cold and austere;

The answer "We are intelligent too; we shall turn and bow down our heads" is the closing line of this poem. Other lines identify Death's sister "Life . . . Blonde and a harlot."

7. In his beautiful poem "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones," Jeffers finds a secluded clearing wounded deer go to die in. What does he say directly after these lines? ". . . here they have water for the awful thirst And peace to die in; dense green laurel and grim cliff Make sanctuary, and sweet wind blows upward from the deep gorge.--"

Answer: I wish my bones were with theirs.

Jeffers doesn't admit that temporarily weak thought to hold him for long, but declares his duty to live life to tne end. He concludes this poem "The deer in that beautiful place lay down their bones; I must wear mine."

8. Choose the line that finishes the first stanza of "For Una": "I built her a tower when I was young-- Sometime she will die-- I built it with my hands, I hung Stones in the sky. Old but still strong I climb the stone-- Sometime she will die-- Climb the steep rough steps alone, And weep in the sky __________"

Answer: Never weep, never weep.

Jeffers had recently learned that his wife Una was dying of cancer.

9. This line, perhaps Jeffers' most famous, caused him great trouble. "I'd sooner, ___________________________; but the great redtail Had nothing left but unable misery From the bone too shattered for mending . . ."

Answer: accept the penalties, kill a man than a hawk

Jeffers regretfully "gave him the lead gift in the twilight." Hawks were a favorite symbol for Jeffers, but he loved real hawks even more.

10. In Jeffers' well-known poem "The Purse-Seine," he describes a fishing scene from near his home: ". . . the motorboat circles the gleaming shoal and drifts out her seine-net. They close the circle And purse the bottom of the net, then with great labor haul it in. I cannot tell you How beautiful the scene is, and a little terrible . . ." What does Jeffers' poem compare this scene to?

Answer: A wide city he saw at night from a mountaintop

I believe the city he had observed that night was Los Angeles. Regardless, he saw American cities as having "gathered vast populations incapable of free survival . . ."

Source: Author NormanW5

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