Foreign Poetry Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joost van den Vondel

There is not much documentation on this poem, but even so the information available on the internet exceeds by far the length of the poem. Various sources confirm that Vondel wrote this short pearl in a bout of depression, as an entry for some poetry competition (probably organised by a chamber of rhetoric).
Vondel was born in Cologne in 1587. His parents came from Antwerp and probably fled this city because of the religious turmoil in the Lower Countries. Later the family moved to Utrecht and then to Amsterdam, where Vondel remained from 1608 until his death in 1679.
Joost van den Vondel is best remembered because of his various theatre plays, of which "Ghysbrecht van Aemstel" and "Lucifer" are the best known. Besides his more than 25 theatre plays, he left us also more than 40 poems, as well as a dozen translations from Latin or ancient Greek.
Hooft (1581-1647) was also a theatre author and poet. But apart from his six theatre plays and his poetry collection, his legacy includes the "Nederduytschen Historien" - a history of the Netherlands in the style of the Roman historian Tacitus.
Bredero (1585-1618) was another poet and playwright. His most performed theatre play was "De Spaenschen Brabander", about the Eighty Years' War.
Marnix (1540-1598) was a noble involved in the Eighty Years' War. He was involved in one of the first Bible translations into Dutch, and he is credited with having written the lyrics to the Dutch national hymn "Wilhelmus".

Answer: Blessent mon coeur d'une langueur monotone

Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) was one of the most prolific French poets during the second half of the XIXth Century. It doesn't really come as a surprise that the British intelligence service chose one of his poems to announce to the French resistance the start of Operation Overlord.
"Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne" indicated that the invasion of France would start within a fortnight, while the second verse "Blessent mon coeur d'une douleur monotone" specified the landing would start within 48 hours.

I've translated these two verses quite literally as follows:
"The long sobs of autumn violins // Wound my heart with monotonous ache".
A more poetic translation would be
"When autumn violins sound long and sobbingly, //My heart aches monotonously."
As you see, these verses are better left in French - translating goes at the cost of poetic beauty.
"Les roses comme avant palpitent, comme avant" is a fragment of another poem by Verlaine.
"A quatre heures du matin" is a verse by Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891).
"O mon enfant, tu vois, je me soumets" is the start of a poem by Victor Hugo (1802-1885).

Answer: Divina Commedia

Both quotes are from Dante's masterpiece "La Commedia", which was renamed "La Divina Commedia" by Boccaccio. The "Commedia" starts with the verses "nel MEZzo camMIN di NOStra VIta // mi RItroVAI per un' SELva osCURa". I've taken the liberty to capitalize the stressed syllables, to get the feeling of the metric rhythm. Likewise I would translate these two verses as follows: "as SOON as i CAME to the MIDST of our LIFEtime // i FOUND mySELF in DARKest FORest."
Canto III verse 9 is the best known verse of the "Divina Commedia": "lasCIAte OGni speRANza, VOI ch'enTRAte". The traditional translation is "aBANdon all HOPE, ye who ENters".
But this traditional translation lacks two metric feet. So I would say "aBANdon ALL your HOPES, ye who DARES to ENter."
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) chose as starting point for the "Commedia" the night before Good Friday in the year 1300, when he was 35 years old - according to the Bible halfway of his life expectancy (although at that time most people aged 35 were already considered quite old). He wrote his masterpiece between 1308 and 1320.
The "Decamerone" is the masterpiece by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), and "Il Canzoniere" is the best known text in Italian by Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374). Together with Dante these two authors are considered the first Renaissance authors.
"Il Quadrireggio" is an Italian spoof of the "Commedia", written by Federico Frezzi (who died in 1416).

Answer: Faust

If you have recognised that all options are main characters from Goethe's works, you'll be versed enough to pick the right one. The quote are the first words Dr. Faust speaks in the eponymous book.

Once again, I'll try to let you feel the rhythm by capitalizing the stressed syllables. "HAbe NUN, ach, PHIlosoPHIE // JUristeREI und MEdiZIN // und LEIder auch THEoloGIE // DURCHaus stuDIERT, mit HEISsem BeMUH'N." I'll do the same with my translation: "i SAY i've STUdied phiLOsoPHY // law PRACtice and MEdiCINE as WELL // and, SADly, EVen theOLoGY // with MAny EFforts to DO so."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a prolific author. He left us novels, drama, poetry, but also scientific treaties and a translation of the Indian masterpiece "Sakuntala".

"Faust" is a tragedy in two parts, about a very erudite scholar who misses the meaning of life. Mephistopheles (aka the Devil) sets out to buy his soul, and meanwhile Dr. Faust falls in love with Gretchen. The story is quite well known: Faust has killed Gretchen's brother in a duel, and Gretchen is convicted to death for the murder of her child (conceived by Faust).
"Werther" is a novel about a sad youngster who eventually takes his own life.
"Egmont" is a historic theatre play about a Flemish count executed at the orders of the Spanish tyrant Alva.
"Wilhelm Meister" is a Bildungsroman (novel about coming of age) starring a future theatre actor.

Answer: Virgil

The verses I've quoted are the first four lines of the Aeneid. To get the feeling of the work, you should read it in the metric rhythm. There are several options for the rhythm, but this is how I learned it a long time ago. I've capitalized the stressed syllables and marked with apostrophes where the syllable is not pronounced. Furthermore, I've replaced the "ia" spelling by "ja" where the pronunciation is a single syllable.
"ARma viRUMque caNO qui PRImus ab Oris // ITalJAM, faTO proFUgus, laVINjaque VEnit // LItora, MULT' il'ET terRIS jacTAto et ALto // VI superUM saeVAE memoREM juNOnis ob IRam."

I'll translate in the same style : "WEApons AND the MAN i SING, who FROM the COAST first // CAME toWARDS iTAljan SOIL, where the FATE has DRIven // HIM, onTO laVINjan SHORES threw him, EARTH and SKY moved. // CAUSE of it ALL was JUno's TERribl' and WILD meMOry."
My translation may mangle a bit grammatically, and true classicists may find a small shift in meaning, but I've chosen rhythm above literal translation and above strict grammatical rules.
Virgil (70 BC -19 BC, full name Publius Vergilius Maro) was the author of the Aeneid, as well as some other works. The Aeneid was commissioned, maybe by Emperor Augustus himself, as an epic to describe the events leading up to the founding of Rome. Most of the Aeneid is perceived as fiction.
Livy (full name: Titus Livius, 64 BC -17 AD) wrote about the real facts of the early Roman history in his book series "Ab Urbe Condita" ("Since the Founding of the City").
Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD) was a philosopher and advisor to the Emperor Nero.
Nero (37 AD - 68 AD) was the Roman Emperor since 54 AD. He fancied himself as a great artist, interested in music and literature.  

Answer: Homer

First of all, let's give the metric pronunciation as well as a metric translation.

"MEnin aEIde, theA, peLEIadeOO achilllEIos // OUlomeNEN, he MURi' aCHAIois ALGe' eTHEke // POLlas d'IPHthiMOUS psuCHAS haïDI proïAPsen // HEroON, auTOUS d' heLORja TEUche kuNESSin // OIoNOIsi te PAsi (diOS d'eteLEIeto BOUlè) // EX hou DE ta PROta diASteTEN eriSANte // ATreïDES te anAX anDRON kai DIos aCHILleus."

"WRATH be thy SONG, o godDESS, the DEADly WRATH of aCHILles // PELeus' SON, who SENT the GREEKS much WOE and GRIEvings. // LOTS of VALjant WARriors DID he THROW into HELL'S doom, // CRUSHED their BODies and LEFT the WANDring DOGS some BONES, or // MADE them INto PREY for the BIRDS (as the GODS have deCIDed). // MIDST this TURMoil STOOD at FIRST the LEADers in QUARrel // SON of ATReus and GEN'ral of MEN, and GODly aCHILles."

The quote forms the start of the Iliad, and it sets out the background: while the Trojan war is raging out there, the bravest Greek warrior (Achilles) has a grudge against his general Agamemnon (son of Atreus). The reason of the grudge: Achilles has taken Briseïs as a personal slave, but Agamemnon has commandeered her to serve in the general's tent. Why was Briseïs so important for Achilles? Well, she was "soft of cheek". I'll let you be the judge whether this phrase is to be taken literally (as moral standards may have evolved in 3,000 years) or figuratively (when the "cheek" is not a facial body part).

There is still debate whether Homer was a real person or not. Herodotus (484-425 BC, historian), Aristophanes (446-386 BC, author of comedies) and Sophocles (496-406 BC, tragedian) were real Greek authors.

Answer: Guido Gezelle

The full stanza is "Traagzaam trekt de witte wagen // door de stille strate toen, //en 't is weenen, en 't is klagen // dat ze bin' de wijte doen!"

My translation to keep the alliterative mourning sounds, the rhyme and the metrical rhythm is:
"Lagging lugs the whitish wagon // Through the silent street - it's // Weep and mourn the crowd does, sadden // In the outer city limits."

As you see, I could not keep alliteration, rhyme and rhythm together with grammatical correctness, but many poems follow the grammatical rules only if possible. I assure you the original text is grammatically almost perfect. The only remark is that the word "toen" needs a past tense for the verbs, while both conjugated verbs are in the present tense.

Guido Gezelle (1830-1899) published "Kerckhofblomme" in 1858, when he worked as priest and teacher in Roeselare. He is considered as the greatest Flemish poet of the XIXth Century. His legacy includes not only half a dozen of collections of his own poems, but also a Dutch translation of Longfellow's epic poem "Song of Hiawatha".
Ledeganck (1805-1847) is best known for his poetic trilogy "De drie zustersteden" ("The Three Sister Cities") about Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp.
Virginie Loveling (1836-1923) and her sister Rosalie (1834-1875) published a poetry collection in 1870. Virginie is best known for some children's stories and novellas.
Alice Nahon (1896-1933) was another Dutch poet, from Antwerp. Her "Avondliedeke III" is still recited in some households.

Answer: François Villon

It was François Villon (1431-1463) who wrote the "Ballade des dames du temps jadis" ("Ballad of the Ladies of Old Times"), part of a larger collection of poems entitled "Le grand testament".
The first stanza of the Ballad makes reference to the Greek hetaere (girl of pleasure) Thais, mistress of Alcibiades. The second stanza is dedicated to the illicit love of Abelard and his pupil Heloise, and the harsh outcome of this romance. The third stanza remembers (among others) Joan of Arc:
"Et Jehanne, la bonne Lorraine, // Qu'Anglois bruslèrent à Rouen;".
So the traditional translation "Where are the snows of yesteryear?" is perhaps not entirely adequate to the contents of the three stanzas. In view of the different stanzas, I would dare to propose "Where are the white girls of yesteryear?"
Bernard André (1450-1522) was an Augustinian friar who wrote poetry in Latin. The only of his works still available is "Historia Henrici Septimi".
Christine de Pizan (1364-1430) is one of the very few lady authors from the Renaissance whose biography is completely accurate. Her masterworks are "Le livre de la Cité des Dames" and "Les trois vertus".
Olivier Basselin (1400-1450) wrote a collection of drinking songs and named it "Vaux-de-Vire", after his birth town Val-de-Vire in Normandy. The title of this work may have contributed to the name of the entertainment formula vaudeville.

Answer: Die Lorelei

Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) wrote lyric poetry, travel prose, essays, ballet libretti, and so on. His poem "Die Lorelei" was set to music by Friedrich Silcher (1789-1860), while other of Heine's poems inspired more famous composers such as Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn.

First of all I'll give you a metric pronunciation: "ich WEISS nicht, was SOLL es beDEUten // DASS ich so TRAUrig BIN. // Ein MAERchen aus urALten ZEIten // das KOMMT mir NICHT aus dem SINN."

There is a nice rhyming English translation of "Die Lorelei" on line, but I chose to make my own translation (based upon the rhythm rather than on the rhyme pattern). Here it is: "i KNOW not HOW to inTERpret // the FEEling OF my SADness. // a FAIry TALE of ANcient // TIMES does not LEAVE my MIND."

Johann Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803) published "Der Messias", an epic poem in almost 20,000 lines about the last week of Jesus' life. The length of this poem exceeds by far that of Homer's Iliad, but it doesn't come near the great Indian poetry (the Ramayana: about 50,000 verses, and the Mahabharata, which almost reaches 200,000 verses).
Theodor Fontane (1819-1898), the author of the poem "Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland", may have been considered by his contemporaries as one of the greatest German authors from the XIXth Century. However, most of his works are now almost forgotten.
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) wrote the poem "An die Freude", which has inspired Ludwig van Beethoven to the choir to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Answer: Catullus

First of all, let's rewrite the quote as I have learned it should be pronounced. I've capitalized the stressed syllables, and I've put apostrophes for the syllables which are not pronounced.
"OD' et aMO. quar'ID faciAM forTASse reQUIris? // NEScjo, SED fiëRI SENti'et EXcruciOR."
Of course interpretations of the rhythm may vary, as there is no one still around who has heard the native speakers read out loud these lines.

My translation in the same rhythm goes as follows:
"LOVE and HATE i DO. PerHAPS you'll ASK me the REAson? // KNOWing i DO not, BUT ... FEELing THIS it HURTS."
Catullus is the author of over 100 short and a bit longer verses, collected in his "Carmina". The exact number is not known, for the oldest manuscript we know of, dates from the years 1550. Taken the total of his works, Catullus wrote a little over 2,500 verses. And yet his poetry is still very much alive.
Ambrose (340-397 AD) was bishop of Milan. This saint wrote several theological treaties and hymns.
Horace (65 BC - 8 BC) was a prolific poet, best remembered for his "Satires".
Ovid (43 BC - 18 AD) was another poet. His masterpiece is the "Metamorphoses", a collection of myths (frequently dealing with the origin of species of plants and animals: in many cases, a man or woman is transformed into a plant or an animal because of some divine intervention).