Ever found yourself scratching your head over what makes a haiku different from a limerick, or why some poems rhyme while others seem to ignore all rules? With countless verse forms, complex metaphors, and terminology that sounds like it belongs in a secret society handbook, understanding poetry can feel more challenging than finding a rhyme for “orange”! Our poetry trivia collection transforms these literary mysteries into accessible questions covering everything from Shakespeare’s sonnets to modern slam poetry. Perfect for literature lovers or anyone who’s ever wondered why poets seem obsessed with comparing people to summer days.
Check out these Shakespeare Trivia Questions.
Poetry Trivia Questions and Answers
- What do you call a poem that rhymes?
Answer: A rhyming poem - What is a group of lines in a poem called?
Answer: A stanza - What is a poem called that tells a story?
Answer: A narrative poem - What do you call the repeating pattern of sounds at the end of lines in a poem?
Answer: Rhyme - Who wrote “The Road Not Taken” which includes the line “two roads diverged in a yellow wood”?
Answer: Robert Frost - What is a short Japanese poem with 17 syllables called?
Answer: Haiku - What is a poem that does not rhyme called?
Answer: Free verse - Who wrote “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”?
Answer: Jane Taylor - What is a very long poem that tells the story of a hero called?
Answer: Epic poem - What is the first letter of each line spelling out a word or message called?
Answer: Acrostic poem - Who was the American poet who wrote about a boy named Jim who had seven fathers?
Answer: Shel Silverstein - What is a 14-line poem often about love called?
Answer: Sonnet - What was Dr. Seuss’s real name?
Answer: Theodor Seuss Geisel - What are words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings called?
Answer: Homophones - Who wrote the poem “Casey at the Bat”?
Answer: Ernest Lawrence Thayer - What is it called when you give human qualities to non-human things in a poem?
Answer: Personification - Who is the author of “Where the Sidewalk Ends”?
Answer: Shel Silverstein - What is a comparison using “like” or “as” called?
Answer: Simile - What is a direct comparison that doesn’t use “like” or “as” called?
Answer: Metaphor - Who wrote the famous poem about a raven who says “Nevermore”?
Answer: Edgar Allan Poe - What do you call poems that celebrate nature, beauty, and emotion?
Answer: Lyric poems - What form of Japanese poetry has three lines with 5, 7, and 5 syllables?
Answer: Haiku - Who wrote “The Night Before Christmas”?
Answer: Clement Clarke Moore - What is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words called?
Answer: Alliteration - Which poet wrote about a man named Annabel Lee who lived “in a kingdom by the sea”?
Answer: Edgar Allan Poe - What is a poem mourning someone’s death called?
Answer: Elegy - Who wrote “The Tyger” which begins “Tyger Tyger, burning bright”?
Answer: William Blake - What is the regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem called?
Answer: Meter - What do you call a poem with five lines where lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme, and lines 3 and 4 rhyme?
Answer: Limerick - Who wrote “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”?
Answer: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - What is the term for a word that imitates the sound it represents, like “buzz” or “meow”?
Answer: Onomatopoeia - What is a poem called that has exactly 5 lines with a specific syllable pattern?
Answer: Cinquain - Who was the first African American woman to be appointed as U.S. Poet Laureate?
Answer: Rita Dove - What is a poem with no fixed pattern or form called?
Answer: Free verse - What type of poem expresses personal feelings and emotions?
Answer: Lyric poem - What is the term for a poem that celebrates the beauty of ordinary things?
Answer: Ode - Which famous poet wrote “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” about daffodils?
Answer: William Wordsworth - What is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words called?
Answer: Assonance - Who wrote the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”?
Answer: Robert Frost - What is the rhythm or beat in a line of poetry called?
Answer: Meter - What is a three-line poem with 17 syllables in a 5-7-5 pattern from Japan called?
Answer: Haiku - Who is known for writing poems about Jabberwockies and Bandersnatches?
Answer: Lewis Carroll - What is a pair of rhyming lines in poetry called?
Answer: Couplet - Who wrote the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride”?
Answer: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - What is a poem where the first letters of each line spell out a word or phrase?
Answer: Acrostic - What poetic movement began in the early 20th century and emphasized clear, precise images?
Answer: Imagism - What famous poem begins with the line “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree”?
Answer: “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer - What type of poem has exactly six syllables per line?
Answer: None (this is not a standard form; a hexasyllabic line has six syllables, but there’s no specific poem type defined by this) - What is a verse form with 19 lines consisting of five tercets and a quatrain?
Answer: Villanelle - Who wrote the epic poem “Paradise Lost”?
Answer: John Milton - What is a stanza with exactly nine lines called?
Answer: Spenserian stanza - What is a poem called that uses visual arrangements of text, images, or symbols?
Answer: Concrete poem (or shape poem) - What poetic term describes a deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis?
Answer: Hyperbole