FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about War Poetry through the Ages
Quiz about War Poetry through the Ages

War Poetry through the Ages Trivia Quiz


I give you the authors' names and a few lines of their war-related poetry. It is up to you to determine which war or battle they were writing about.

A multiple-choice quiz by alliefarrell. Estimated time: 6 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Literature Trivia
  6. »
  7. Poetry
  8. »
  9. War Poetry

Author
alliefarrell
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
239,975
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
618
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Dagny1 (6/10), spanishliz (6/10), Guest 183 (3/10).
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. This poem is written by my old pal 'anonymous'. I will say that it was written long ago. Here are some lines. "Byrhtnoth drew out his sword from its sheath,/Broad-faced and gleaming, and made to slash at the sea-farer's corselet,/But his enemy stopped him all too soon,/Savagely striking Byrhtnoth's arm." Which battle is this? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. This poem was written by Rudyard Kipling. "Sudden the desert changes,/The raw glare softens and clings,/Till the aching Oudtshoorn ranges/Stand up like the thrones of Kings". About which war was Kipling talking? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. This poem was written by Allen Ginsberg. Here are some lines from it: "Dynamite in forests/boughs fly down slow motion/thunder down ravine/Helicopters roar over National Park, Mekong Swamp". To which war was Ginsberg referring? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Here are some beautiful lines of poetry by John McCrae: "In Flanders Fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row,/That mark our place; and in the sky/The larks still bravely singing, fly/Scarce heard amid the guns below." Of what war or battle did McCrae pen these lines? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Here are some lines for you by Robert Southey: "'Great praise the Duke of Marlbro' won,/And our good Prince Eugene.'/...'It was a famous victory'". To which battle do these lines refer? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Here are some lines of poetry by William Edmonstoune Aytoune: "For by the might of Mary!/'Twere something still to tell/That no Scottish foot went backward/When the Royal Lion fell!" To which rousing battle do these lines refer? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Here are some lines of poetry by Rupert Brooke: "If I should die, think only this of me:/That there's some corner of a foreign field/That is forever England." About what war are these lovely lines written? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Here's a good one by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: "Half a league, half a league,/Half a league onward,/All in the valley of Death/Rode the six hundred./'Forward, the Light Brigade!" In which war or battle did six hundred men ride into the valley of death? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. These lines were originally written in French by Arthur Rimbaud: "In the centre of the poster, Napoleon/rides in apotheosis, sallow, medalled, a ramrod/perched on a merrygoround horse. He sees life/through rosy glasses, terrible as God" About which war or battle was Rimbaud writing? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Edith Sitwell penned these lines: "Still falls the Rain - /Dark as the world of man, black as our loss - /Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails/Upon the Cross." Of what war was Dame Edith Sitwell writing? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Most Recent Scores
Mar 09 2024 : Dagny1: 6/10
Feb 16 2024 : spanishliz: 6/10
Feb 16 2024 : Guest 183: 3/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This poem is written by my old pal 'anonymous'. I will say that it was written long ago. Here are some lines. "Byrhtnoth drew out his sword from its sheath,/Broad-faced and gleaming, and made to slash at the sea-farer's corselet,/But his enemy stopped him all too soon,/Savagely striking Byrhtnoth's arm." Which battle is this?

Answer: Battle of Maldon

This poem is simply called "The Battle of Maldon". The Battle of Maldon was fought in Essex, England on 10 August, 991. The better-known Battle of Hastings was actually fought in Battle on the 14th of October, 1066. Also fought in 1066 was the Battle of Fulford, near York, England, on the 20th of September. Finally, the Battle of Brunanburh was fought in late 937 in Northumberland, England.
2. This poem was written by Rudyard Kipling. "Sudden the desert changes,/The raw glare softens and clings,/Till the aching Oudtshoorn ranges/Stand up like the thrones of Kings". About which war was Kipling talking?

Answer: Second Boer War

This poem is called "Bridge-Guard in the Karroo". Not everybody knows that there were two Boer wars. I certainly didn't. The first one lasted a year, from 1880-1881; the second from 1899-1902. When people mention the Boer War, they're usually talking about the second one. Both were fought in South Africa.

Rudyard Kipling [1865-1936] was born in Bombay [Mumbai], India, and is best-known for his novel "The Jungle Book", and his short story "The Man who would be King". He was the first English writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1907, and to this day he remains the youngest recipient; he was 42 when he was awarded his Nobel Prize.
3. This poem was written by Allen Ginsberg. Here are some lines from it: "Dynamite in forests/boughs fly down slow motion/thunder down ravine/Helicopters roar over National Park, Mekong Swamp". To which war was Ginsberg referring?

Answer: Vietnam War

This poem, entitled "A Vow", was written about the Vietnam War. American involvement in it lasted from 1965-1975.
Allen Ginsberg, (1926-1997), was an American poet, born in New Jersey, who is considered to be at the forefront of The Beat Generation. He started writing letters to the New York Times about WWII and workers' rights when he was just a teenager. For the rest of his life, which was centred around San Francisco, Ginsberg was a controversial activist, both for political reform and in gay rights, and an anti-Vietnam protester of note.
4. Here are some beautiful lines of poetry by John McCrae: "In Flanders Fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row,/That mark our place; and in the sky/The larks still bravely singing, fly/Scarce heard amid the guns below." Of what war or battle did McCrae pen these lines?

Answer: World War One

McCrae wrote this poem, "In Flanders Fields" during World War One, and sent it home to his girlfriend. WWI lasted from 1914-1918.
We've always been proud of John McCrae here in Southern Ontario, as he was a local boy, (1872-1918). He served in the artillery during the Second Boer War, then came home and studied medicine at the University of Toronto. In WWI he was in charge of a field hospital in Belgium, which is where he died, of pneumonia and meningitis.
5. Here are some lines for you by Robert Southey: "'Great praise the Duke of Marlbro' won,/And our good Prince Eugene.'/...'It was a famous victory'". To which battle do these lines refer?

Answer: Battle of Blenheim

The Battle of Blenheim [Blindheim], in Bavaria, Germany, was part of the War of the Spanish Succession, and it destroyed King Louis XIV of France's plans to dominate Europe. It was fought on 13 August, 1704. The Duke of Marlboro was John Churchill, an ancestor of Winston Churchill. Robert Southey (1774-1843), who wrote this poem called "The Battle of Blenheim", was born in Bristol, England.

He grew up in the house of an eccentric aunt, and then attended Westminster School, from which he was expelled for starting a magazine called 'The Flagellant'.

After his years at Oxford, he wrote unceasingly and in all forms: poetry, plays, biographies, and histories. He eventually attained the post of England's poet laureate.
6. Here are some lines of poetry by William Edmonstoune Aytoune: "For by the might of Mary!/'Twere something still to tell/That no Scottish foot went backward/When the Royal Lion fell!" To which rousing battle do these lines refer?

Answer: Battle of Flodden Field

"Edinburgh after Flodden" is a humorous first-person account of the Battle of Flodden Field. It happened on 9 Sept. 1513, in Northumbria, England, when an invading Scots army, led by James IV, attacked the English army, led by the Earl of Surrey. It was a dismal day for the Scots. William Edmounstoune Aytoune (1813-1865), an Edinburgh man, was a lawyer and editor of Blackwood's magazine, to which he contributed humourous poetry.

Originally, Aytoune had been expected to study law in London, but he ran off to study German in Germany instead, and when he resumed his law studies, they were in Edinburgh, where his father, also a lawyer, could keep an eye on him.

In 1832 Aytoune's first poems appeared; the subject matter was Poland, as he had a great interest in it at the time.

At one time he was a Professor of Literature at the University of Edinburgh and the Sheriff of Orkney Island, which is quite a commute.
7. Here are some lines of poetry by Rupert Brooke: "If I should die, think only this of me:/That there's some corner of a foreign field/That is forever England." About what war are these lovely lines written?

Answer: World War One

This poem, "The Soldier", is my very favourite. It was written by Rupert Brooke (1887-1915), an educated and handsome young man who had already had a nervous breakdown by time he headed off to war. To help cure his nervous condition, Brooke was sent on a world tour which took him to Canada, the United States, and the South Pacific. Rumour is rife that he fathered a Tahitian child whilst visiting the island. Brooke never saw battle. En route to the Dardanelles at the age of 28, he died on a troop ship due to blood poisoning from an infected insect bite.

He was hastily buried in the dark of night in an olive grove on the Greek Island of Scyros; lovers of his poetry still turn up to see his grave.
8. Here's a good one by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: "Half a league, half a league,/Half a league onward,/All in the valley of Death/Rode the six hundred./'Forward, the Light Brigade!" In which war or battle did six hundred men ride into the valley of death?

Answer: The Crimean War

Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" tells the story of a light-cavalry brigade in the Crimean War being led into a hopeless charge against the Russians at Balaklava, leading to the deaths of more than two-thirds of the British soldiers. This war lasted from 1853-1856, and was the war that made famous the nurse Florence Nightingale.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), was born, humbly, as a rector's son and one of 12 children. After a Cambridge education he became a poet of note; today he is best-known for his work "The Lady of Shalott". Queen Victoria greatly admired his poetry, and in 1850 he became poet laureate of Great Britain. Furthermore, in 1854, she created him Baron Tennyson, with lands that could be passed on to his sons; he was the first English writer to be raised to the peerage.
9. These lines were originally written in French by Arthur Rimbaud: "In the centre of the poster, Napoleon/rides in apotheosis, sallow, medalled, a ramrod/perched on a merrygoround horse. He sees life/through rosy glasses, terrible as God" About which war or battle was Rimbaud writing?

Answer: Franco-Prussian War

Rimbaud was not writing about the Napoleon everyone is thinking about, but of Emperor Napoleon III. The Franco-Prussian War lasted less than a year between 1870 and 1871 and was won decisively by the Germans, who gained the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) was a brilliant poet who gave up writing after the age of 30, and shocked Paris with his openly homosexual affair with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, who later shot Rimbaud in a lover's quarrel. Rimbaud lived out his days in Ethiopia as a gun runner.

The pain of carcinoma on his right knee forced him to return to France, and Rimbaud died in Marseilles of complications following the amputation of his leg.
10. Edith Sitwell penned these lines: "Still falls the Rain - /Dark as the world of man, black as our loss - /Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails/Upon the Cross." Of what war was Dame Edith Sitwell writing?

Answer: World War Two

The answer is in the poem - the nineteen hundred and forty nails refer to the year, at which time WWII was underway.
Edith Sitwell (1887-1964) was born to minor nobility in the north of England. Because of her spinal deformity, Edith's parents locked her into an iron frame; for this Edith and her brothers never forgave their parents, neither did they see them again during their adult lives, nor attend their funerals. Edith was a poet of note. She wrote in unusual rhythms with great technical skill; she also wrote two lives of Queen Elizabeth I and a novel based on the life of Jonathan Swift. She was a friend of Dylan Thomas, and helped publish the poetry of Wilfrid Owen after his death. In 1954, Queen Elizabeth II made her Dame Edith Sitwell, Daughter of the British Empire (DBE).
Source: Author alliefarrell

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
Related Quizzes
1. Poetry and War Tough
2. WWI Poetry Tough
3. War and Remembrance Average
4. War and Remembrance Average
5. Poems On War And Death Tough
6. The Poetry of War Tough
7. More WWI Poetry Tough
8. Poet's Potpourri Average
9. Pure Poetry Too Difficult
10. A Poetry Calendar Tough
11. Poets - 10 different ones Tough
12. Poetry Potpourri Easier

3/28/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us