UK Poets Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet, author, and government official, most famous for writing "The Canterbury Tales". He is often referred to as the 'father of English literature' or, alternatively, the 'father of English poetry.' "The Parlement of Fowls," composed circa 1382, is a poem presented as a peculiar and amusing dream. Chaucer employs a gathering of birds engaged in debate to examine the real essence of love, social order, and human behavior.

Answer: Milton

John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. The poem "Song on May Morning" is about the start of spring when the flowers of primrose and cowslip start to bloom. In the month of May we think of youth, happiness, and intense desire symbolizing an emotional and physical renewal in both the natural world and individuals. Milton is best known for his 1667 epic poem "Paradise Lost," which was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and political upheaval.

Answer: Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet who was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England. The poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" was came about as he was walking with his younger sister Dorothy in 1804 near Glencoyne Bay, Ullswater, located in England's Lake District.

The poem describes seeing daffodils gently swaying in the breeze by the shore, with some lying along the water's edge. The poet uses this powerful image to reflect back that when we feel sad and down, we can find comfort in the power of nature.

Answer: Eliot

T. S. Eliot was born on 26 September 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Eliot wrote the poem "The Waste Land" which was first published on 16 October 1922 in the UK while in the USA it was first published on 20 October 1922. The poem, which is fairly lengthy, is divided into five parts.

The first section is titled "The Burial of the Dead", and the last is "What the Thunder Said". The poem begins with the line, "April is the cruellest month..." Various interpretations have been offered regarding its meaning, with the opening verse often seen as referencing the consequences of the First World War.

Answer: Keats

John Keats was born on 31 October 1795 in Moorgate, London. He died of tuberculosis on 23 February 1821 while in Rome (aged 25). The poem "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles" was first published on March 9, 1817. Essentially, he is saying we don't live forever; we are born and eventually will die in a short space of time compared to statues that are 1000s of years old.

However, even statues show that they have deteriorated over time but are standing a long time after we have gone.

Answer: Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson was born on 6 August 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. Alfred died on 6 October 1892. The narrative composition entitled "The Lady of Shalott" recounts the tragic circumstances of Elaine of Astolat, a highborn maiden imprisoned within a fortified tower situated along the riverbank in proximity to Camelot. Alfred, Lord Tennyson produced two distinct iterations of this poetic work: the inaugural version, comprising twenty stanzas, was released in 1832 (despite bearing an erroneous publication date of 1833) within an anthology designated Poems; the subsequent version, encompassing nineteen stanzas, was published in 1842, likewise in a volume entitled Poems. Subsequently, Tennyson returned to this subject matter through his composition "Lancelot and Elaine."

Answer: Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on 4 August 1792 in Field Place, Sussex, England. He died on 8 July 1822 (aged 29) in the Gulf of La Spezia, Kingdom of Sardinia. Shelley was recognized as a significant figure in the Romantic poetry movement.

The poem "Ozymandias" was first published on January 11, 1818, in a weekly literary and political journal. The poem has 14 lines. The first three lines are "I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desart". The poem conveys that pride and fame are fleeting. No matter how wealthy or powerful a ruler is, they will ultimately be forgotten, and nature will always triumph over human achievements.

Answer: Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June 1840 in Stinsford, Dorset, England. He died 11 January 1928. The poem "The Darkling Thrush" was first published in The Graphic, which was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, on 29 December 1900. The poem consisted of 32 lines.. The first four lines are,

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.

The opening two stanzas depict a desolate winter setting during the twilight hours, accompanied by a pervasive sense of emptiness and desolation. The poem then introduces an old thrush who is small, frail, extremely thin, and bony. Suddenly, he begins to sing with a full voice. There is no apparent reason for him to sing at this moment, given the circumstances. Perhaps he has a vision of what is to come.

Answer: Spenser

Edmund Spenser was born around 1552; the exact date cannot be verified. He died on January 13, 1599, in London. His famous, well-known poem is called "The Faerie Queene." Books I-III were first published in 1590.

"The Faerie Queene" is a grand tale featuring courageous knights, enchanted beings, and fearsome monsters embarking on heroic adventures for Gloriana, the mighty Queen of Fairyland. Gloriana is based on a real queen, Queen Elizabeth I. Spencer wrote the poem to show respect and admiration for the queen. The poem is not your usual poem, as it's very long. In fact, it has over 34,000 lines.

Answer: Dryden

John Dryden was an English poet born on August 19, 1631, in Aldwincle, Northamptonshire. He died on May 12, 1700. In 1668, Dryden became England's first Poet Laureate.

"Happy the Man" is a reworking of the classical ancient Roman poet Horace. The beginning of the poem expresses that a genuinely happy individual is someone who can "claim today as their own." This suggests embracing the present day and discovering happiness in it, regardless of the circumstances. The last line of the poem "I have had my hour" conveys a sense of comfort and pride in having truly lived, experienced happiness, and gotten through life's various challenges and success, whether in good times or bad.