The Months Trivia Quiz

Answer: Makes our feet and fingers glow

"January brings the snow, / Makes our feet and fingers glow."

The poem was written by Sara Coleridge (1802 - 1852), who was the daughter of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Apart from poetry she was also known for writing the fairy tale, 'Phantasmion' in 1837. She learnt both Latin and Greek at a young age, and also mastered French, German, Italian and Spanish.

As part of their 1956 show 'At the Drop of a Hat', Michael Flanders and Donald Swann sang a parody of Sara Coleridge's verse. They generally take a slightly more jaundiced view of the weather and activities experienced throughout the year. Although they start with the same sentiment. "January brings the snow, / Makes your feet and fingers glow."

Answer: Thaws the frozen lake again

"February brings the rain, / Thaws the frozen lake again."

While Coleridge envisages an improvement in the weather, Flanders and Swann favour "February's ice and sleet, / Freeze the toes right off your feet."

Answer: Stirs the dancing daffodil

"March brings breezes loud and shrill, / Stirs the dancing daffodil."

Both versions recognise the March wind, but Flanders and Swann do not like it. "Welcome, March, with wint'ry wind, / Would thou wert not so unkind."

Answer: Scatters daises at our feet

"April brings the primrose sweet, / Scatters daises at our feet."

Coleridge tells us about the loveliness of the spring flowers in April. Flanders and Swann grumble about the rain necessary for those flowers to thrive. "April brings the sweet spring showers, / On and on for hours and hours."

Answer: Skipping by their fleecy dams

"May brings flocks of pretty lambs, / Skipping by their fleecy dams."

Coleridge is still enjoying the pleasures of spring in May. Flanders and Swann are less impressed by what might happen. "Farmers fear unkindly May, / Frost by night and hail by day."

Answer: Fills the children's hand with posies

"June brings tulips, lilies, roses, / Fills the children's hand with posies."

June is very similar to April in both versions. Coleridge tells of more flowers, while Flanders and Swann grumble again. "June just rains and never stops, / Thirty days and spoils the crops."

Answer: Apricots and gillyflowers

"Hot July brings cooling showers, / Apricots and gillyflowers."

In Coleridge's poem, July is the height of summer. For Flanders and Swann the summer is much less pleasant. "In July the sun is hot, / Is it shining? / No it's not!"

Answer: Then the harvest home is borne

"August brings the sheaves of corn, / Then the harvest home is borne."

Farmers will certainly hope to bring in the harvest during August; Coleridge clearly envisages plenty of fine weather for the purpose. If Flanders and Swann are to be believed, the harvest seems doomed. "August, cold and dank and wet, / Brings more rain than any yet."

Answer: Sportsmen then begin to shoot

"Warm September brings the fruit, / Sportsmen then begin to shoot."

Coleridge makes one think of apples and pears being picked in orchards, and blackberries being gathered from hedgerows. Flanders and Swann's take on the month is much less appealing. "Bleak September's mist and mud / Is enough to chill the blood."

Answer: Then to gather nuts is pleasant

"Fresh October brings the pheasants, / Then to gather nuts is pleasant."

As autumn arrives, Coleridge makes me think of the sun shining through leaves which are changing colour on the nut trees. If Flanders and Swann are to be believed, the leaves will come off those trees very quickly. "Then October adds a gale, / Wind and slush and rain and hail."

Answer: Then the leaves are whirling fast

"Dull November brings the blast, / Then the leaves are whirling fast."

Coleridge acknowledges the leaves falling in the autumn. She would probably have known John Keat's 1820 poem, 'Ode to Autumn', describing the 'season of mists'. Flanders and Swann clearly felt that describing the month as 'misty' would be an understatement. "Dark November brings the fog, / Should not do it to a dog."

Answer: Blazing fire, and Christmas treat

"Chill December brings the sleet, / Blazing fire, and Christmas treat."

The cold weather of December was obviously not a worry to Coleridge, when hot fires and Christmas festivities could dispel any gloom. Flanders and Swann were rather more pessimistic about the cold weather. "Freezing wet December, then... / bloody January again!"