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Black Powder

By John Barr

Saltpeter, to sailors who swore the cooks
put it in the eggs to keep their c*cks in check;
Nitre, to alchemists who dreamed
of turning lead to gold;
Potassium Nitrate, to the druggist who asked
the boy what he would do with that.
The ancient Chinese recipe:
Mix with sulfur, charcoal
seven parts to one to two.
Grind it fine as talc.
What he would do is strike a match, then watch
the blaze of self-discovery––
the boyhood burn to master
the forbidden and impossible––
choking the basement with smoke
from what could sink a ship at Scapa Flow.

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Famous-Poems-quiz

Famous Poems: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;" - What is the next line of this poem by T.S. Eliot?

2 / 20

"I wandered lonely as a cloud, 

That floats on high o'er vales and hills, 

When all at once I saw a crowd, 

A host, of golden daffodils."

 

 - What is the title of this poem?

3 / 20

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach."

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

4 / 20

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by,"

- What is the next line of this poem by Robert Frost?

5 / 20

"The End and the Beginning" is a famous poem by Wislawa Szymborska. What is the next line of this poem after "After every war / someone has to clean up"?

6 / 20

"The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"

- Who is the author of this poem?

7 / 20

"Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all."

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

8 / 20

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" is a famous sonnet by William Shakespeare. What is the next line of this poem after "Thou art more lovely and more temperate:"?

9 / 20

"Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there; I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow."

 

- What is the title of this poem?

10 / 20

"Because I could not stop for Death, 

He kindly stopped for me; 

The carriage held but just ourselves, 

And Immortality."

 

- What is the title of this poem?

11 / 20

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a famous poem by T.S. Eliot. What is the next line of this poem after "Do I dare / Disturb the universe?"?

12 / 20

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary," - What is the next line of this poem by Edgar Allan Poe?

13 / 20

"I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong."

- Who is the author of this poem?

14 / 20

"A Contribution to Statistics" is a famous poem by Wislawa Szymborska. What is the next line of this poem after "Out of a hundred people"?

15 / 20

"Sonnet 29" is a famous sonnet by William Shakespeare. What is the next line of this poem after "When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,"?

16 / 20

"O Captain! My Captain! 

our fearful trip is done, 

The ship has weathered every rack, 

the prize we sought is won."

 

 - Who is the author of this poem?

17 / 20

"Ozymandias" is a famous poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley. What is the next line of this poem after "I met a traveller from an antique land"?

18 / 20

"We real cool. We left school. We lurk late."

- What is the next line of this poem by Gwendolyn Brooks?

19 / 20

"I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you."

- What is the title of this poem?

20 / 20

"The Second Coming" is a famous poem by William Butler Yeats. What is the next line of this poem after "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold"?

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Forms-Of-Poetry-Quiz

Forms Of Poetry: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

What is the name for a poetic form consisting of 14 lines with a specific rhyme scheme and meter?

2 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a poem that describes or meditates on the natural world, often using vivid imagery and sensory language?

3 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of four-line stanzas, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB, typically used to express love or praise?

4 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a poem that tells a story through a series of quatrains, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB?

5 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a five-line stanza with a syllable count of 2-4-6-8-2, and typically contains a humorous or witty twist at the end?

6 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form that originated in ancient Arabic poetry, consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, typically used to express love or melancholy?

7 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which a single poem is created by combining lines from multiple different poems, typically by different authors?

8 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the last word of each line is repeated throughout the poem?

9 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms originated in Italy?

10 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter are followed by a rhyming line of iambic tetrameter?

11 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a single line, typically with a specific syllable count or word limit, and often used to convey a strong emotion or idea?

12 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by three-line stanzas, with a syllable count of 5-7-5 and a seasonal reference?

13 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms consists of a three-line stanza, with a syllable count of 5-7-5, but also includes a two-line stanza at the end, with a syllable count of 7-7?

14 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms originated in ancient Greece and typically consists of a long narrative poem about heroic deeds?

15 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms consists of a series of six-line stanzas, with a specific rhyme scheme and the repetition of certain end words throughout the poem?

16 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, with a rhyme scheme of A-B-A-B?

17 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which a speaker addresses someone or something that is absent or not able to respond?

18 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the poem's shape on the page reflects its subject matter?

19 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by three stanzas of three lines each and a final quatrain?

20 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a series of unrhymed tercets followed by a quatrain, with the same end words used throughout the poem in a specific pattern?

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