Why We Fight

By Edgar Albert Guest

This is the thing we fight:
A cry of terror in the night;
A ship on work of mercy bent-
A carrier of the sick and maimed-
Beneath the cruel waters sent,
And those that did it, unashamed.

A woman who had tried to fill
A mother’s place; had nursed the ill
And soothed the troubled brows of pain
And earned the dying’s grateful prayers,
Before a wall by soldiers slain!
And such a poor pretext was theirs!

Old women pierced by bayonets grim
And babies slaughtered for a whim,
Cathedrals made the sport of shells,
No mercy, even for a child,
As though the imps of all the hells
Were crazed with drink and running wild.

All this we fight-that some day when
Good sense shall come again to men,
Our children’s children may not read
This age’s history thus defamed
And find we served a selfish creed
And ever be of us ashamed!

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Famous-Poems-quiz

Famous Poems: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

"Do not go gentle into that good night,

 Old age should burn and rave at close of day; 

Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

2 / 20

"I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother."

- What is the next line of this poem by Langston Hughes?

3 / 20

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." 

 

- What is the title of this poem?

4 / 20

"Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all." 

- Who is the author of this poem?

5 / 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:"?

6 / 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"?

7 / 20

"Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

 What immortal hand or eye, 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"

 

 - Who is the author of this poem?

8 / 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?

 

 - Who is the author of this poem?

9 / 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?

10 / 20

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

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

11 / 20

"i carry your heart with me" is a famous poem by E.E. Cummings. What is the next line of this poem after "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in"?

12 / 20

"Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day;" - What is the next line of this poem by Dylan Thomas?

13 / 20

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 

But I have promises to keep, 

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep."

 

 - What is the title of this poem?

14 / 20

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 

But I have promises to keep, 

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep." 

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

15 / 20

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

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

16 / 20

"The Sun Rising" is a famous poem by John Donne. What is the next line of this poem after "Busy old fool, unruly Sun, / Why dost thou thus"?

17 / 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"?

18 / 20

"It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee."

- Who is the author of this poem?

19 / 20

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

20 / 20

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

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Forms-Of-Poetry-Quiz

Forms Of Poetry: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a six-line stanza, with a rhyme scheme of A-A-B-B-C-C and a syllable count of 8-8-5-5-8-8?

2 / 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?

3 / 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?

4 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms originated in Italy?

5 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which each line or stanza repeats the same sequence of words, but in reverse order?

6 / 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?

7 / 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?

8 / 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?

9 / 20

Which of the following is NOT a form of Japanese poetry?

10 / 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?

11 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the first letter of each line spells out a word or phrase?

12 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a repeated refrain, alternating with a series of quatrains, with a final quatrain as a coda?

13 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by three-line stanzas, with the second line repeating as the last line of the previous stanza?

14 / 20

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

15 / 20

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

16 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of two lines, with the first line asking a question and the second line providing an answer?

17 / 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?

18 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a series of eight-line stanzas, with a rhyme scheme of A-B-A-B-B-C-B-C?

19 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which each line contains the same number of syllables?

20 / 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?

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