French Poetry: The Great Poets

Question 1

Question 1 : Which poet wrote "The Lake", a romantic elegy on the passage of time?

Possible answers:

Alfred de Vigny
Alfred de Musset
Alphonse de Lamartine
Victor Hugo

Answer

Alphonse de Lamartine published "The Lake" in his Poetic Meditations in 1820, an emblematic poem of French Romanticism.

Question 2

Question 2 : Who wrote the collection "Les Fleurs du mal", censored upon its publication in 1857?

Possible answers:

Paul Verlaine
Stéphane Mallarmé
Charles Baudelaire
Arthur Rimbaud

Answer

Charles Baudelaire published Les Fleurs du mal in 1857, a collection condemned for offending public morals but which became foundational for modern poetry.

Question 3

Question 3 : Which symbolist poet wrote "The Drunken Boat" at the age of 16?

Possible answers:

Lautréamont
Paul Verlaine
Arthur Rimbaud
Gérard de Nerval

Answer

Arthur Rimbaud composed The Drunken Boat in 1871, a visionary poem that revolutionized French poetry.

Question 4

Question 4 : Who is the author of the famous poem "Tomorrow, at dawn" dedicated to his daughter Léopoldine?

Possible answers:

Alphonse de Lamartine
Victor Hugo
Alfred de Musset
Théophile Gautier

Answer

Victor Hugo wrote this poem in tribute to his daughter Léopoldine, who drowned in 1843. It appears in Les Contemplations.

Question 5

Question 5 : Which Pléiade poet wrote "Mignonne, let us go see if the rose"?

Possible answers:

Pierre de Ronsard
Joachim du Bellay
Clément Marot
François Villon

Answer

Pierre de Ronsard, prince of Renaissance poets, composed this famous ode to Cassandra around 1545.

Question 6

Question 6 : Who wrote "Art poétique" with the famous verse "Music above all else"?

Possible answers:

José-Maria de Heredia
Paul Verlaine
Stéphane Mallarmé
Théodore de Banville

Answer

Paul Verlaine published his Art poétique in 1884, a manifesto of symbolist poetry advocating the musicality of verse.

Question 7

Question 7 : Which surrealist poet wrote "Capitale de la douleur" in 1926?

Possible answers:

Louis Aragon
Robert Desnos
André Breton
Paul Éluard

Answer

Paul Éluard published Capitale de la douleur in 1926, a major surrealist collection exploring love and dreams.

Question 8

Question 8 : Who composed "Zone", the opening poem of Alcools, without punctuation?

Possible answers:

Guillaume Apollinaire
Max Jacob
Blaise Cendrars
Pierre Reverdy

Answer

Guillaume Apollinaire opened his collection Alcools (1913) with Zone, a modern poem without punctuation celebrating the city.

Question 9

Question 9 : Which 19th century poet wrote "Les Chimères", a collection including "El Desdichado"?

Possible answers:

Gérard de Nerval
Leconte de Lisle
Théophile Gautier
Sully Prudhomme

Answer

Gérard de Nerval published Les Chimères in 1854, hermetic and esoteric sonnets of great beauty.

Question 10

Question 10 : Who wrote "Le Pont Mirabeau" with the refrain "May night come, may the hour strike"?

Possible answers:

Saint-John Perse
Paul Valéry
Jules Supervielle
Guillaume Apollinaire

Answer

Guillaume Apollinaire composed Le Pont Mirabeau, a melancholic poem about lost love, published in Alcools in 1913.

Question 11

Question 11 : Which medieval poet wrote "The Ballad of the Hanged Men" before his supposed execution?

Possible answers:

Charles d'Orléans
François Villon
Christine de Pizan
Rutebeuf

Answer

François Villon composed this poignant ballad, also called Villon's Epitaph, around 1462, a masterpiece of medieval poetry.

Question 12

Question 12 : Who wrote "Paroles" including the famous poem "Barbara"?

Possible answers:

Jacques Prévert
Raymond Queneau
Boris Vian
Jean Cocteau

Answer

Jacques Prévert published Paroles in 1946, a popular collection including Barbara, a poem about war and love.

Question 13

Question 13 : Which Parnassian poet wrote "Les Trophées", a collection of perfect sonnets?

Possible answers:

José-Maria de Heredia
Leconte de Lisle
Sully Prudhomme
Théodore de Banville

Answer

José-Maria de Heredia published Les Trophées in 1893, 118 polished sonnets representing the Parnassian ideal.

Question 14

Question 14 : Who wrote "The Graveyard by the Sea", a meditation on death and creation?

Possible answers:

Paul Claudel
Saint-John Perse
Francis Ponge
Paul Valéry

Answer

Paul Valéry composed The Graveyard by the Sea in 1920, a philosophical poem on death facing the Mediterranean.

Question 15

Question 15 : Which poet wrote "A Season in Hell", an autobiographical confession in poetic prose?

Possible answers:

Lautréamont
Tristan Corbière
Paul Verlaine
Arthur Rimbaud

Answer

Arthur Rimbaud wrote A Season in Hell in 1873, an autobiographical work marking his break with poetry.

Question 16

Question 16 : Who wrote "Happy he who, like Ulysses, has made a fine voyage"?

Possible answers:

Maurice Scève
Clément Marot
Joachim du Bellay
Pierre de Ronsard

Answer

Joachim du Bellay composed this nostalgic sonnet in Les Regrets (1558), expressing his homesickness while in Italy.

Question 17

Question 17 : Which poet wrote "Liberté", a resistance poem with "I write your name"?

Possible answers:

Robert Desnos
Paul Éluard
René Char
Louis Aragon

Answer

Paul Éluard composed Liberté in 1942, a poem dropped by the RAF over occupied France, symbol of the Resistance.

Question 18

Question 18 : Who wrote "L'Invitation au voyage" with "There, all is order and beauty"?

Possible answers:

Gérard de Nerval
Paul Verlaine
Charles Baudelaire
Théophile Gautier

Answer

Charles Baudelaire composed L'Invitation au voyage, a poem from Les Fleurs du mal evoking an ideal paradise.

Question 19

Question 19 : Which poet received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1960 for his work "Amers"?

Possible answers:

Paul Claudel
Yves Bonnefoy
René Char
Saint-John Perse

Answer

Saint-John Perse (Alexis Leger) received the Nobel in 1960 for his poetic work including Amers, Anabase and Éloges.

Question 20

Question 20 : Who wrote "Les yeux d'Elsa", a collection dedicated to his muse Elsa Triolet?

Possible answers:

René Char
Louis Aragon
André Breton
Paul Éluard

Answer

Louis Aragon published Les yeux d'Elsa in 1942, a collection celebrating his love for Elsa Triolet during the Occupation.

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The 20 quiz questions

Question 1 : Which poet wrote "The Lake", a romantic elegy on the passage of time?

Question 2 : Who wrote the collection "Les Fleurs du mal", censored upon its publication in 1857?

Question 3 : Which symbolist poet wrote "The Drunken Boat" at the age of 16?

Question 4 : Who is the author of the famous poem "Tomorrow, at dawn" dedicated to his daughter Léopoldine?

Question 5 : Which Pléiade poet wrote "Mignonne, let us go see if the rose"?

Question 6 : Who wrote "Art poétique" with the famous verse "Music above all else"?

Question 7 : Which surrealist poet wrote "Capitale de la douleur" in 1926?

Question 8 : Who composed "Zone", the opening poem of Alcools, without punctuation?

Question 9 : Which 19th century poet wrote "Les Chimères", a collection including "El Desdichado"?

Question 10 : Who wrote "Le Pont Mirabeau" with the refrain "May night come, may the hour strike"?

Question 11 : Which medieval poet wrote "The Ballad of the Hanged Men" before his supposed execution?

Question 12 : Who wrote "Paroles" including the famous poem "Barbara"?

Question 13 : Which Parnassian poet wrote "Les Trophées", a collection of perfect sonnets?

Question 14 : Who wrote "The Graveyard by the Sea", a meditation on death and creation?

Question 15 : Which poet wrote "A Season in Hell", an autobiographical confession in poetic prose?

Question 16 : Who wrote "Happy he who, like Ulysses, has made a fine voyage"?

Question 17 : Which poet wrote "Liberté", a resistance poem with "I write your name"?

Question 18 : Who wrote "L'Invitation au voyage" with "There, all is order and beauty"?

Question 19 : Which poet received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1960 for his work "Amers"?

Question 20 : Who wrote "Les yeux d'Elsa", a collection dedicated to his muse Elsa Triolet?

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