["The Metaphysical School of Poetry is a 17th-century group of English poets led by John Donne, characterized by conceits, wit, paradox, intellectualism, and the fusion of thought and feeling." Major Metaphysical Poets: John Donne (leader of the school), George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, Henry Vaughan, Richard Crashaw, Abraham Cowley]
********Metaphysical School of Poetry – MCQs (UGC-NET/SET Level)*********
1. Who first used the term "Metaphysical Poets"?
A) T. S. Eliot
B) Samuel Johnson
C) Matthew Arnold
D) John Dryden
2. Who is considered the leader of the Metaphysical School?
A) George Herbert
B) Andrew Marvell
C) John Donne
D) Henry Vaughan
3. The most distinctive feature of Metaphysical poetry is:
A) Blank verse
B) Conceit
C) Heroic couplet
D) Alliteration
4. A metaphysical conceit is:
A) A simple simile
B) An extended and ingenious comparison
C) A lyrical refrain
D) A poetic meter
5. Which critic praised the Metaphysical poets for their "unified sensibility"?
A) Samuel Johnson
B) John Dryden
C) T. S. Eliot
D) F. R. Leavis
6. Which of the following is NOT generally considered a Metaphysical poet?
A) John Donne
B) George Herbert
C) Andrew Marvell
D) Alexander Pope
7. The poem "The Flea" was written by:
A) Andrew Marvell
B) John Donne
C) George Herbert
D) Richard Crashaw
8. Metaphysical poetry is mainly associated with:
A) 14th Century
B) 15th Century
C) 17th Century
D) 19th Century
9. Which characteristic is NOT typical of Metaphysical poetry?
A) Intellectual wit
B) Philosophical speculation
C) Conventional romantic sentimentality
D) Paradox
10. Samuel Johnson criticized Metaphysical poets for:
A) Excessive simplicity
B) Lack of imagination
C) Yoking together heterogeneous ideas
D) Ignoring religion
11. Which poem contains the famous compass conceit?
A) The Flea
B) The Canonization
C) The Sun Rising
D) A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
12. Which Metaphysical poet was also a priest?
A) George Herbert
B) Andrew Marvell
C) Abraham Cowley
D) John Cleveland
13. The dominant themes of Metaphysical poetry include:
A) Love, religion, and death
B) Nature only
C) Chivalry only
D) Pastoral life only
14. Which Metaphysical poet wrote "The Temple?"
A) John Donne
B) George Herbert
C) Andrew Marvell
D) Henry Vaughan
15. Which work by T. S. Eliot revived interest in Metaphysical poetry?
A) Tradition and the Individual Talent
B) The Metaphysical Poets
C) The Sacred Wood
D) Hamlet and His Problems
16. Andrew Marvell's famous carpe diem poem is:
A) The Collar
B) The Pulley
C) To His Coy Mistress
D) Easter Wings
17. Which poet is known as the "Saint of Metaphysical Poetry"?
A) George Herbert
B) John Donne
C) Andrew Marvell
D) Abraham Cowley
18. The language of Metaphysical poetry is generally:
A) Artificial and ornamental only
B) Colloquial and argumentative
C) Purely lyrical
D) Highly romantic
19. Which Metaphysical poet is famous for mystical religious poetry?
A) Henry Vaughan
B) Alexander Pope
C) John Milton
D) Thomas Gray
20. Metaphysical poetry aims to unite:
A) Emotion and intellect
B) Religion and politics
C) Nature and society
D) Form and meter
21. Who remarked that the Metaphysical poets "yoked by violence together heterogeneous ideas"?
A) John Dryden
B) Samuel Johnson
C) T. S. Eliot
D) Matthew Arnold
22. Which critic credited the Metaphysical poets with a "direct sensuous apprehension of thought"?
A) Samuel Johnson
B) John Dryden
C) T. S. Eliot
D) I. A. Richards
23. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Metaphysical poetry?
A) Conceit
B) Paradox
C) Intellectual wit
D) Spenserian stanza
24. Which pair is correctly matched?
A) Richard Crashaw — Religious Ecstasy
B) George Herbert — Political Satire
C) Andrew Marvell — Epic Poetry
D) Henry Vaughan — Heroic Couplets
25. Who among the following revived scholarly interest in Metaphysical poetry in the twentieth century?
A) Matthew Arnold
B) Samuel Johnson
C) T. S. Eliot
D) F. R. Leavis
26. Which literary device is frequently used in Metaphysical poetry?
A) Paradox
B) Allegory
C) Euphemism
D) Litotes
27. Which quality best distinguishes Metaphysical poetry from Elizabethan love poetry?
A) Musicality
B) Intellectual complexity
C) Patriotism
D) Romantic imagination
28. The central concern of many Metaphysical poems is:
A) Chivalry
B) Courtly love alone
C) The relationship between body and soul
D) Nationalism
29. Which of the following pairs is incorrectly matched?
A) John Donne — The Flea
B) George Herbert — The Temple
C) Andrew Marvell — To His Coy Mistress
D) Henry Vaughan — Lycidas
****(Lycidas is by John Milton)****
30. The phrase "For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love" occurs in:
A) The Good-Morrow
B) The Sun Rising
C) The Canonization
D) The Relic
31. Which of the following poets is generally NOT included among the Metaphysical poets?
A) Richard Crashaw
B) Abraham Cowley
C) Andrew Marvell
D) Thomas Gray
32. A Metaphysical conceit differs from an ordinary conceit because it:
A) Is based only on mythology
B) Employs far-fetched and intellectually ingenious comparisons
C) Avoids logic and reasoning
D) Is limited to religious poetry
33. Which of the following is the best example of a metaphysical conceit?
A) Rose compared to beauty
B) Moon compared to a goddess
C) Lovers compared to the two legs of a compass
D) King compared to the sun
****(This famous comparison comes the poem "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning". Written as a farewell to his wife —to argue that physical distance cannot break a true, spiritual bond)****
34. Who among the following poets is generally considered the last major Metaphysical poet?
A) George Herbert
B) Andrew Marvell
C) Henry Vaughan
D) Richard Crashaw
35. Which poem of John Donne begins with the line "Busy old fool, unruly Sun"?
A) The Flea
B) The Sun Rising
C) The Canonization
D) The Relic
36. Henry Vaughan is often called:
A) The Mystic Poet
B) The Cavalier Poet
C) The Lake Poet
D) The Augustan Poet
37. Which Metaphysical poet wrote "The World?"
A) Andrew Marvell
B) Henry Vaughan
C) Richard Crashaw
D) Abraham Cowley
38. Abraham Cowley is associated with:
A) Metaphysical Poetry
B) Romantic Poetry
C) Pre-Raphaelite Poetry
D) Georgian Poetry
39. Which of the following poems is NOT by John Donne?
A) The Canonization
B) The Pulley
C) The Flea
D) The Sun Rising
40. "Had we but world enough, and time" is the opening line of:
A) The Garden
B) To His Coy Mistress
C) The Definition of Love
D) The Flea
41. Which Metaphysical poet served as a secretary to John Milton?
A) George Herbert
B) Andrew Marvell
C) Henry Vaughan
D) Richard Crashaw
42. Which Metaphysical poet converted to Roman Catholicism?
A) George Herbert
B) Henry Vaughan
C) Richard Crashaw
D) Andrew Marvell
43. Who among the following was described by T. S. Eliot as possessing a "mechanism of sensibility" capable of devouring any kind of experience?
A) George Herbert
B) Andrew Marvell
C) John Donne
D) Richard Crashaw
44. Who among the following was not included by T. S. Eliot in the main tradition of Metaphysical poets?
A) John Donne
B) George Herbert
C) Andrew Marvell
D) John Milton
45. Samuel Johnson's criticism of the Metaphysical poets appears in:
A) Preface to Shakespeare
B) Lives of the Poets
C) The Rambler
D) Biographia Literaria
46. Which critical concept is most closely associated with T. S. Eliot's defense of the Metaphysical poets?
A) Negative Capability
B) Touchstone Method
C) Unified Sensibility
D) Imagination Theory
47. Which of the following pairs is incorrectly matched?
A) John Donne — Holy Sonnets
B) George Herbert — The Temple
C) Henry Vaughan — Silex Scintillans
D) Andrew Marvell — Religio Medici
****(Religio Medici was written by Thomas Browne)****
48. Which Metaphysical poet wrote the sonnet beginning "Batter my heart, three-person'd God"?
A) George Herbert
B) Richard Crashaw
C) John Donne
D) Henry Vaughan
49. The line "Our two souls therefore, which are one" occurs in:
A) The Canonization
B) The Flea
C) A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
D) The Sun Rising
50. T. S. Eliot's concept of "unified sensibility" refers to:
A) The separation of thought and feeling
B) The fusion of thought and feeling
C) Pure emotionalism in poetry
D) The rejection of intellect in poetry