Musical Tables Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Billy Collins' 2022 Poetry Collection

Test your knowledge of Billy Collins's 2022 collection Musical Tables with this 20-question quiz. The quiz spans the book's 132 short poems, covering plot and sequence, character motivation, themes and symbols, and synthesis across the collection. Each question is grounded in the poems' content as presented in the book. After the quiz, you'll find a complete answer key with brief explanations. Good luck!

Quiz Questions

Plot and Sequence (Questions 1–8)

1. In “Musical Tables” (Chapter 2), what happens immediately after the music stops?

• A) The tables are moved away

• B) No one knows what to do

• C) A new game begins

• D) The music starts again

1. In “Highway” (Chapter 3), what does the speaker notice while hitchhiking alone? (Short answer)

2. In “The Naked Eye” (Chapter 5), how does the eye cover itself?

• A) With an eyelid

• B) With a view of a meadow

• C) With a hand

• D) With a tear

1. In “Dog” (Chapter 9), what two possible dreams does the speaker imagine for the sleeping dog? (Short answer)

2. In “Flaubert” (Chapter 17), what happens as Flaubert searches for the correct word?

• A) He finds it immediately

• B) Incorrect word choices appear at his window

• C) He gives up

• D) He consults a dictionary

1. In “The Visit” (Chapter 43), what does the wind do after blowing the front door open? (Short answer)

2. In “Refrigerator Light” (Chapter 100), what happens at the moment the woman slams the refrigerator door?

• A) The speaker's thoughts about her stop

• B) The light goes out

• C) The speaker leaves

• D) The door breaks

1. In “Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)” (Chapter 118), what are the kettle drummer and the triangle player doing during the performance? (Short answer)

Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

1. In “Creative Writing” (Chapter 20), why does the student defend using single quotation marks?

• A) Because they are easier to type

• B) Because every word people speak is already enclosed in quotation marks placed by God around Creation

• C) Because the teacher asked for them

• D) Because they are traditional

1. In “The Code of the West” (Chapter 21), what does the speaker ask the listener to leave out of any commentary about him? (Short answer)

2. In “Nurse” (Chapter 99), why does the nurse envy the dead?

• A) Because they are at peace

• B) Because they look like sleepers in their beds

• C) Because they no longer have to work

• D) Because they are remembered

1. In “Bad Hotel” (Chapter 123), why does the speaker ask the housekeeper to pretend he is not there? (Short answer)

2. In “Siren” (Chapter 124), why does the narrator tie the siren to the mast?

• A) To keep her from escaping

• B) To keep her close so he can enjoy her melodies while sailing

• C) To protect her from the sea

• D) To obey an order

Theme and Symbol (Questions 14–17)

1. In “New Calendar” (Chapter 7), what does the speaker compare next year's calendar to?

• A) A poem

• B) A song

• C) A painting

• D) A journey

1. In “Limits” (Chapter 12), what does the poem suggest about human perception? (Short answer)

2. In “Headstones” (Chapter 19), what does the pattern of a husband's death date shortly after his wife's often signify, according to the poem?

• A) A broken heart

• B) Gradual starvation

• C) Natural causes

• D) An accident

1. In “The Milky Way” (Chapter 65), what everyday object is linked to the celestial Milky Way? (Short answer)

Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

1. Which of the following pairs of poems both use music as a central image?

• A) “Thelonious Morning” and “Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)”

• B) “Highway” and “Dog”

• C) “Flaubert” and “Creative Writing”

• D) “Headstones” and “Elegy”

1. How does Collins use the image of a dog in both “Dog” (Chapter 9) and “Morning Walk” (Chapter 102) to explore different aspects of consciousness or creativity? (Short answer)

2. Which of the following best describes a recurring technique in Collins's small poems?

• A) Extended narratives with multiple characters

• B) Personification of everyday objects or animals to reveal unexpected insights

• C) Strict adherence to traditional forms like sonnets

• D) Heavy use of obscure literary allusions

Answer Key

Plot and Sequence

1. B – The poem opens with “No one knew what to do / when the music stopped” (Chapter 2).

2. An ant moving in the opposite direction – The speaker is hitchhiking alone and notices an ant traveling the opposite way (Chapter 3).

3. B – The eye covers itself with a view of a meadow it enjoys (Chapter 5).

4. Chasing a squirrel or fleeing from an angry farmer waving a rake – The speaker speculates on these two possibilities for the dog's dream (Chapter 9).

5. B – Incorrect word choices appear at his window as he searches for the right word (Chapter 17).

6. It moves to the father's chair and sits down in it – The wind enters and settles into the chair (Chapter 43).

7. A – The speaker's thoughts about her stop entirely at the moment the door closes (Chapter 100).

8. The kettle drummer falls asleep while the triangle player counts out his rests – The poem contrasts the two musicians' states (Chapter 118).

Character Motivation

1. B – The student claims that every word people speak is already enclosed in quotation marks that God placed around Creation (Chapter 20).

2. The horse he rode in on – The speaker asks the listener to leave the horse out of any commentary (Chapter 21).

3. B – The dead look like sleepers in their beds, which the exhausted nurse envies (Chapter 99).

4. Because he has been pretending not to be present ever since he checked into the hotel – The speaker admits his own behavior mirrors the pretense he requests (Chapter 123).

5. B – He ties her to the mast to keep her close so he can enjoy her melodies while sailing around the world (Chapter 124).

Theme and Symbol

1. A – The speaker describes next year's calendar as a poem, with weeks as lines and months as stanzas (Chapter 7).

2. That there are limits to human perception – Even in stillness and silence, one cannot hear the singing of the clouds (Chapter 12).

3. B – The poem states that the cause is often gradual starvation rather than a broken heart (Chapter 19).

4. Milk poured over cereal at breakfast – The poem links the celestial Milky Way to the everyday act of pouring milk (Chapter 65).

Synthesis

1. A – “Thelonious Morning” features wind chimes forming a minor chord, and “Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)” depicts musicians during a performance (Chapters 28 and 118).

2. In “Dog,” the sleeping dog's twitching eyelids and churning legs prompt speculation about its dreams (chasing a squirrel or fleeing a farmer), exploring animal consciousness. In “Morning Walk,” the dog stops to sniff “the poems of others” and then recites her own poem, linking canine sensory perception to the creative process of imitation and originality (Chapters 9 and 102).

3. B – Many poems personify everyday objects or animals—the eye in “The Naked Eye,” the potato in “Mute Potato,” the wind in “The Visit,” the refrigerator door in “Refrigerator Light”—to reveal unexpected insights (Chapters 5, 18, 43, 100).