Valentine's Day quiz

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 13, 2004 | by Carma Wadley Deseret Morning News

Named after a third-century Christian saint and incorporating elements of even earlier pagan ceremonies, Valentine's Day is one of our oldest holidays.

It was proclaimed a day in honor of St. Valentine in 498 A.D. by Pope Gelasius. But Celts, Romans and other early pagan cultures had long held celebrations of love and fertility at that time of year. One was the Roman Lupercalia festival, commemorating the god Lupercus.

Today, it has become a celebration of not only romance but all kinds of love and affection, including family and friends.

In honor of this venerable holiday, we've come up with a Valentine's Day quiz. Test your romance I.Q. with the following:

1. Which event probably started the tradition of celebrating Feb. 14 as the holiday of romance and love?

a. Ancient Romans brought gifts of love to their virgin maidens on that date.

b. St. Valentine sacrificed his life for love on Feb.14.

c. For the Celts, this date traditionally marked the beginning of mating season for birds.

d. A festival honoring Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, was held on that date.

2. Is any subject talked about by poets more often than love? Maybe, but a lot of great love poems have been written over the years. Can you match these lines with their authors?

a. "Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be."

b. "For you see, each day I love you more,

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow."

c. "She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies."

d. "If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee."

e. "O, my luv's like a red red rose

That's newly sprung in June."

f. "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,

Which I gaze on so fondly today."

g. "Drink to me, only, with thine eyes,

And I will pledge with mine."

h. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou are more lovely and more temperate."

i. "Come live with me and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove."

j. "Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,

Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee."

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

l. "For of all sad words of tongue and pen,

The saddest are these: 'It might have been!' "

1. George Gordon, Lord Byron

2. William Shakespeare

3. Robert Browning

4. Stephen Foster

5. Christopher Marlowe

6. Rosemonde Gerard

7. Anne Bradstreet

8. John Greenleaf Whittier

9. Elizabeth Barrett Browning

10. Robert Burns

11. Ben Jonson

12. Thomas Moore

3. St. Valentine, in whose honor we celebrate, is a figure shrouded in mystery. But, according to legend, one likely reason why his name became associated with the holiday is because:

a. He wrote one of the first published love poems, a tribute to a young maiden he saw bathing in a river.

b. He defied an order from the Roman emperor banning marriage for young men and continued to perform marriages in secret.

c. He secretly visited early Christian prisoners, smuggling in notes and tokens of love from their wives and families.

d. He offered himself to be executed in place of a newly married soldier who was accused of treason against the Roman emperor.

4. In the 18th and 19th centuries, flowers were offered for more than beauty alone. Different flowers were symbolic of specific feelings and emotions, and sending a bouquet also sent another message; secrets could be exchanged with a pansy or a poppy. Red roses, of course, stood for love. See if you can match these other flowers with their meanings, as listed in a 19th century book called "Poetry of Flowers":

a. Daisy

b. Tulip

c. Hollyhock

d. Foxglove

e. Daffodil

f. Sunflower

g. Peony

h. Lily of the valley

1. Charity

2. Fidelity

3. Bashfulness

4. Innocence

5. Return of happiness

6. Unrequited love

7. Ambition

8. Insincerity

5. One reason we send valentines today is because:

a. When St. Valentine was in prison for his Christian beliefs, he sent a note to his jailer's daughter, which he signed "from your Valentine."

b. During early Roman pagan festivals honoring love, men and women would exchange secret messages of love and adoration.

c. Henry VIII sent a love message in the shape of a heart to Anne Boleyn. The practice was soon copied by other members of his court.

d. St. Valentine often left written messages of love and encouragement at the homes of members of his church.

6. Place the following romantic movie scenes in chronological order, starting with the earliest:

a. Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr share a passionate kiss on a lonely beach in "From Here to Eternity."

b. Clark Gable carries Vivien Leigh up a winding staircase in "Gone With the Wind."

c. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan find each other at last on top of the Empire State Building in "Sleepless in Seattle."

d. Julie Christie and Omar Sharif sizzle in a sleigh ride through the Russian countryside in "Dr. Zhivago."

e. Ralph Fiennes recalls his passionate but tragic love affair during World War II in "The English Patient."

f. True love's kiss awakens the princess in Disney's animated version of "Sleeping Beauty."

g. Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn go over the falls locked in an embrace in "The African Queen."