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Modern Poets and Their Works Trivia Quiz

This quiz is designed to test how much you know about modern world poets ... enjoy!

A multiple-choice quiz by nerthus. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
nerthus

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
2,976

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
687

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Which of the following poets used the legend of Diogenes in his poem 'The Haw Lantern'? Hint

Ted Hughes

Sally Ito

D.J. Enright

Seamus Heaney

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Question 2 of 10

2. Which of the following Australian poets reverted to her native name, Oodgeroo Noonuccal? Hint

Antigone Kefala

Judith Wright

Kath Walker

Dorothy Hewett

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Question 3 of 10

3. Which of the following men was known not only for his poetic works such as 'Roma 1950, Diario' and 'Nuovi Argomenti', but also for his involvement with the film world as a director? Hint

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Alberto Moravia

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Fernando Pessoa

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Question 4 of 10

4. Ted Hughes, the former Poet Laureate of England, addressed the poems in his final collection of poems, 'The Birthday Letters' to which poet?

Answer: (Two words; his ex-wife who committed suicide in 1963, inits SP))

5. Which of the following poets (renowned for his poems 'Sunstone' and 'The Labyrinth of Solitude') has not only served as an ambassador of his country to India, but also won the Nobel Prize in Literature? Hint

Joseph Brodsky

Pablo Neruda

Octavio Paz

Seamus Heaney

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which of the following poets from the Caribbean has won the Nobel Prize in Literature? Hint

Derek Walcott

Claire Harris

Lorna Goodison

Mervyn Morris

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Question 7 of 10

7. Who was the exiled Russian who was the author of the essays 'On Grief and Reason' as well as a poet who has written major works such as 'So Forth', 'To Urania'? Hint

Anna Akhmatova

Joseph Brodsky

Boris Pasternak

Osip Mandelshtam

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Question 8 of 10

8. Co-founder of a literary group called 'Zagary', this poet once worked for the underground presses in Warsaw, and has published major works such as 'Hymn of The Pearl', 'The Rising of the Sun', and 'La Belle Epoque'? Hint

Czeslaw Milosz

Stanislaw Baranczak

Wislawa Szymborska

Zbigniew Herbert

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Question 9 of 10

9. Which of the following women poets of China participated in the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty? Hint

Jen Jui

Ts'ai Yen

Meng Chu

Su Hsaio-Hsiao

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Question 10 of 10

10. Which South American poet shared the International Publishers prize with Samuel Beckett in 1961 and, later, called his stories in 'The Book of Sand' a blind man's exercises? Hint

Jorge Luis Borges

Pablo Neruda

Octavio Paz

Gerardo Diego

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of the following poets used the legend of Diogenes in his poem 'The Haw Lantern'?

Answer: Seamus Heaney

Diogenes went around with a lantern looking for a just and honest man; Heaney used this figure but gave him a haw lantern.

2. Which of the following Australian poets reverted to her native name, Oodgeroo Noonuccal?

Answer: Kath Walker

Kath Walker was a prominent Aboriginal poet and activist, who prefered to be called Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal tribe.

3. Which of the following men was known not only for his poetic works such as 'Roma 1950, Diario' and 'Nuovi Argomenti', but also for his involvement with the film world as a director?

Answer: Pier Paolo Pasolini

Pier Paolo Pasolini led a very colorful life as a poet, writer and as a director of critically acclaimed movies such as 'Salo', 'The Decameron' and 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew'.

4. Ted Hughes, the former Poet Laureate of England, addressed the poems in his final collection of poems, 'The Birthday Letters' to which poet?

Answer: Sylvia Plath

Although there have been countless discussions of Sylvia Plath's death, Ted Hughes himself was largely silent , and gave his personal account for the first time in 'The Birthday Letters'

Answer: Octavio Paz

In 1962, Paz was appointed the Mexican Ambassador to India where he met his future wife. In 1970, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

6. Which of the following poets from the Caribbean has won the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Answer: Derek Walcott

Derek Walcott, born and brought up on St Lucia, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992.

7. Who was the exiled Russian who was the author of the essays 'On Grief and Reason' as well as a poet who has written major works such as 'So Forth', 'To Urania'?

Answer: Joseph Brodsky

Joseph Brodsky, a gifted lyric poet, and another Nobel Prize in Literature winner, became an involuntary exile from his country in 1972 and settled in the USA.

Answer: Czeslaw Milosz

Milosz is a well known Polish poet who broke with the Polish government and eventually settled in France and then in USA. Winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature, he has translated most of his own poems into English.

9. Which of the following women poets of China participated in the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty?

Answer: Jen Jui

Jen Jui was a revolutionary who became a member of the Communist Party. She died in 1949, the year the People's Republic was established.

10. Which South American poet shared the International Publishers prize with Samuel Beckett in 1961 and, later, called his stories in 'The Book of Sand' a blind man's exercises?

Answer: Jorge Luis Borges

Borges wrote the stories in 'The Book of Sand' when he was well into his seventies -- hence the 'blind man's exercises'

Source: Author nerthus

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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