Free Poetry MCQs with Answers

• A. 1374
• B. 1359
• C. 1367
• D. 1382

Explanation: Chaucer took part in Edward III’s French campaign in 1359 during the Hundred Years’ War.

• A. Lisa Boyle
• B. Mary Jane
• C. Queen Elizabeth
• D. Elizabeth Boyle

Explanation: Spenser’s Amoretti is a sonnet sequence celebrating his courtship and marriage to Elizabeth Boyle.

• A. Worcester
• B. Chester
• C. East Smithfield
• D. Kent

Explanation: Edmund Spenser was born around 1552 in East Smithfield, London. He later became closely associated with Ireland through his service and…

• A. Hundred Years War
• B. Nine Years War
• C. Ten Years War
• D. Seventeen Years War

Explanation: Kilcolman Castle was burned by Irish forces during the Nine Years’ War, the major Irish rebellion against English rule from 1594 to 1603.

• A. 9
• B. 12
• C. 24
• D. 8

Explanation: A Spenserian stanza has nine lines: eight lines of iambic pentameter followed by a longer Alexandrine line.

• A. 1568
• B. 1579
• C. 1597
• D. 1585

Explanation: The Shepheardes Calender was published in 1579 and helped establish Spenser as an important Elizabethan poet.

• A. The Faerie Queene
• B. Amoretti
• C. The Shepheardes Calender
• D. Astrophel

Explanation: The Faerie Queene remained unfinished at Spenser’s death; he completed six books and part of a seventh, although twelve had apparently…

• A. Sidney
• B. Elizabeth
• C. Mary
• D. Chaucer

Explanation: Spenser dedicated The Faerie Queene to Queen Elizabeth I, whom he represented through the poem’s ideal of Gloriana.

• A. Edward
• B. Jonathan
• C. Immanuel
• D. Immerito

Explanation: The Shepheardes Calender appeared under the name Immerito, a Latinised pseudonym meaning roughly ‘the undeserving one.’ This disguise was…

• A. Pembroke College
• B. Latin College
• C. Corpus Christi
• D. Queens College

Explanation: Spenser studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, then known as Pembroke Hall, where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

• A. 1599
• B. 1632
• C. 1589
• D. 1621Explore Top Audiobooks

Explanation: Edmund Spenser died in 1599 in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

• A. Philip Sidney
• B. Boyle
• C. Queen Elizabeth
• D. Chaucer

Explanation: The Shepheardes Calender was dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney, a major Elizabethan patron and poet.

• A. 1542
• B. 1552
• C. 1569
• D. 1558

Explanation: Spenser was born in 1552, probably in London, though the exact day and place are not certain.

• A. pastoral work
• B. religious work
• C. allegorical work
• D. natural work

Explanation: The Faerie Queene is an allegorical epic: its knights and adventures represent moral virtues and vices, while it also carries political…

• A. The Teares of the Muses
• B. Prosopopoia, or Mother Hubberds Tale
• C. Muiopotmos, or the Fate of the Butterflie
• D. Ruines of Rome: by Bellay

Explanation: In Prosopopoia, or Mother Hubberds Tale, the Ape and the Fox use satire to expose corruption and courtly customs.

• A. ab cb bc cd e
• B. abba bccb d
• C. ab bc cd de f
• D. ab ab bc bc c

Explanation: The Spenserian stanza has nine lines with the rhyme scheme ababbcbcc, including eight iambic pentameter lines followed by a longer…

• A. 18
• B. 8
• C. 23
• D. 12

Explanation: Spenser originally planned The Faerie Queene as a twelve-book poem, with each book devoted to one of twelve moral virtues.

• A. Tudor
• B. Stuart
• C. Anjou
• D. Plantagenet

Explanation: The Faerie Queene celebrates the Tudor dynasty, especially Elizabeth I, who is represented through figures such as Gloriana and Belphoebe.

• A. Prothalamion
• B. Faerie Queen
• C. Epithalamion
• D. Amoretti

Explanation: Epithalamion is Spenser's marriage poem celebrating his wedding to Elizabeth Boyle.

• A. The poet who leads Dante on a tour of hell
• B. Dante's enemy
• C. Dante's patron
• D. The emperor of Italy in Dante's lifetime

Explanation: Can Grande della Scala, the ruler of Verona, was a powerful patron and supporter of Dante.