Krantz
English 4620

1. What does the shape of the poem represent?
2. What is the dominant metaphor?
3. How does the poem suggest Herbert's acceptance of Calvin's teaching on predestination?

EASTER

1. What is the occasion of the poem?
2. What are its major images?
3. How does it invoke biblical imagery and themes?
4. What has it in common with the love poetry we've seen earlier?
5. What is the poet's "lute"?

EASTER WINGS

1. What is the shape of the poem?
2. How does its meaning conform to its shape?
3. What is the "wealth and store" referred to in the first line?
4. How does Herbert show himself a Calvinist again?

PRAYER

Explain how each of the metaphors can be applied to prayer.

JORDAN (1) AND (2)

Compare the two poems. Why are they about not only the life of a Christian but the life and work of a Christian poet?

THE COLLAR

The Norton suggests a list of puns for the title. Explain each in terms of the poem.

THE PULLEY

Explain the title of the poem. What does the poem suggest about human nature? Is it pessimistic or optimistic? Explain.

Crashaw

See the image that Crashaw's poem alludes to at the following web address: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/bernini/teresa.jpg.html

1. Who are the audiences for the poem?
2. How well does the poem describe Bernini's statue?
3. A "Seraphim" is one of the nine types of angels. Renaissance Christians, like those of earlier times, understood angels to be totally different from humans (in the same way that irrational animals were thought to be different than humans, and plants were different from animals). Why does Crashaw suggest that Teresa is an angel?
4. What are Teresa's "happy fire-works"?
5. Mystical (devout religious) writing, especially in poetic form, often uses erotic imagery (think of the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament). How is Crashaw's poem erotic?
6. What does the poet accomplish in the final oppositions (ll 94-102)