So, how much do you really know about Keats?

[Malia]

Hey everyone
I thought it might be fun to start a trivia "game" of sorts about Keats's life and poetry. Here's how it works: I'll start by offering up a trivia question of my own. The first person to guess the correct answer then writes out another trivia question and the person who answers that question writes out another and so on.

OK. Here's the first question.

What was Keats's favorite flower?

[Credo Buffa]

Violets!

So does the poser of the question have to confirm its correctness before the next question is asked?

[Malia]

Yes, confirmation must take place before you ask the next question. And I confirm that your answer is correct! hehe Violets were Keats's favorite flower

What's the next question, Credo Buffa?

[Despondence]

Hey - no fair

I propose another rule: you have to cite the reference for the answer too! (Like title, author, edition, page, letter, private communication or whatever) Otherwise, us clueless sods have nothing to go on other than your say-so..

[Malia]

But my "say so" is infallible! LOL (Just kidding, of course!)

Good point! Citations are a good idea. I'd say that for very trivial things like Keats's favorite color--we can just say "read it in the Bate biography in the last chapter". For info of more substance, it would be good to have a closer citation.

[Saturn]

I think this is a great idea Malia though I confess I think we will need references to find the answers to any questions asked as I'm ashamed to say I've forgotten more about Keats than I can remember at the moment

[Malia]

Yes, references are necessary--I begin to see that more and more. I was figuring general references would be OK (such as "Bate Biography, last chapter") but if everyone thinks it is necessary to quote exact letters/pages/etc. that's cool, too. Just another way we can all open those books and brush up on our knowledge

Me, I'm just so right-brained generally, I'm the kind whose mind would skip over details like references--so it's good to be reminded how important they are.

[Despondence]

I was figuring general references would be OK (such as "Bate Biography, last chapter")

That's fine, just enough information for someone else to be able to look it up. Not that I doubt your say-so....but it may be interesting to read the context

[Saturn]

Who's going to ask the first question?

[Malia]

Well, technically I already asked the first question, hehe. And Credo Buffa answered it--this was before the referencing conversation. I don't know if Credo Buffa is still around and wants to ask the next question or not.

In the meantime, if you want to ask one, go right ahead . And if Credo Buffa wants to ask one, she can too--as she answered the first question.

Maybe another rule should be that if you get the question right, you have 24 hours to post the next question.

[Credo Buffa]

OK, I'm back! Sorry for the delay. I didn't want to ask a question without first having a source ready to go!

Here's my question: what work of classical literature did Keats work at translating while at school at Enfield?

[Saturn]

Virgil's Aeneid

It was in prose I believe and he won a prize for it

I don't have the books at hand but I'm sure this is right.

[Despondence]

Doggone it already...too much lag in the system. I started writing my reply, but before I was done stephen had beat me to it. You must be closer to the server or someting...

[Credo Buffa]

Virgil's Aeneid

It was in prose I believe and he won a prize for it

Ta-da! You get five cool points for answering the question correctly, and a bonus ten for the extra info

Just for any skeptics, my source is Motion's biography, pg. 39 (don't know if some of you might have different page numbering due to different editions in different countries, etc., but I'll just assume that this is enough of a citation for our purposes).

OK, Stephen. Next question is yours

[Saturn]

From which poem do these lines come from?

“…forgetting the great end
Of poesy, that it should be a friend
To sooth the cares, and lift the thoughts of man.”