Lesson 3.2.3

3.2.3 The Metaphysical Poets (Metaphysical Poetry) Quiz: Pearson Edexcel English Literature, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson 3.2.3, The Metaphysical Poets (Metaphysical Poetry): 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel English Literature (9ET0), Unit 3: Component 3: Poetry, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. Who coined the term 'metaphysical poets' in the eighteenth century?

    • Alexander Pope
    • Matthew Arnold
    • Samuel Johnson
    • T S Eliot

  2. What literary device is an elaborate, extended comparison used by Metaphysical poets?

    • Personification
    • Hyperbole
    • Oxymoron
    • Conceit

  3. What type of opening is characteristic of Metaphysical poetry such as Donne's?

    • Passive and detached
    • Slow and descriptive
    • Formal and solemn
    • Abrupt and conversational

  4. Which John Donne poem uses an insect as a conceit for seduction?

    • The Canonization
    • The Relic
    • The Flea
    • The Apparition

  5. Which image in 'A Valediction Forbidding Mourning' represents the lovers' bond?

    • A rose in a garden
    • A sundial in a garden
    • A pair of compasses
    • A ship's anchor

  6. What central object forms the conceit of George Herbert's poem 'The Pulley'?

    • A pulley
    • A mirror
    • An hourglass
    • A compass

  7. Which poet wrote 'To His Coy Mistress' in the prescribed Metaphysical list?

    • Henry Vaughan
    • Andrew Marvell
    • Thomas Carew
    • Richard Lovelace

  8. In Samuel Johnson's famous critique, how are heterogeneous ideas joined in Metaphysical conceits?

    • Linked by harmony
    • Joined by nature
    • Yoked by violence
    • Bound by chance

  9. Which poet wrote 'The Collar' in the prescribed Metaphysical list?

    • Thomas Carew
    • Richard Lovelace
    • George Herbert
    • Anne Bradstreet

  10. To whom is Anne Bradstreet's prescribed Metaphysical poem addressed?

    • Her distant sister
    • Her newborn child
    • Her absent husband
    • Her heavenly Father

  11. What key element structures the progression of a typical Metaphysical poem?

    • Logical argument
    • Simple repetition
    • Narrative storytelling
    • Random association

  12. In seventeenth-century poetry, what quality best defines the term 'wit'?

    • Intellectual ingenuity
    • Emotional passion
    • Sarcastic humour
    • Physical comedy

  13. How do Metaphysical poets typically approach subjects like love, faith, and death?

    • Through simple storytelling
    • Through intellectual argument
    • Through romantic sentiment
    • Through sensory description

  14. Which poet wrote 'Redemption' in the prescribed list?

    • John Donne
    • Henry Vaughan
    • George Herbert
    • Andrew Marvell

  15. Which poem by Henry Vaughan is included on the prescribed Metaphysical poetry list?

    • Unprofitableness
    • Peace
    • The World
    • The Retreat

  16. In Andrew Marvell's prescribed poem, what creature is the nymph mourning?

    • Her white dove
    • Her pet lamb
    • Her pet fawn
    • Her loyal hound

  17. What style of syntax is characteristic of Metaphysical poetry?

    • Archaic syntax
    • Monotonous syntax
    • Formal Latinate syntax
    • Colloquial syntax

  18. What stylistic feature unites John Donne's love poetry and religious poetry?

    • Argumentative wit
    • Simple rhyme schemes
    • Sentimentality
    • Passive devotion

  19. Which Andrew Marvell poem urges a lover not to waste time?

    • To His Coy Mistress
    • The Garden
    • An Horatian Ode
    • Upon Appleton House

  20. Who wrote 'The Canonization' in the prescribed Donne list?

    • John Donne
    • Henry Vaughan
    • Thomas Carew
    • George Herbert

All Pearson Edexcel English Literature quizzes