Metaphysical poets study questions

George Herbert “The Collar”

1. The collar means different things and is worn on different occasions. Who wears the collar and how do all these things influence the overall message of the poem?

2. “I will abroad!” What does the speaker want to escape from and where to?

3. “Shall I be still in suit?” What does the “suit” mean?

4. What is it that has stopped the speaker so far from getting out? Are the restrictions physical or psychological?

5. Why is the speaker frustrated with his life and what does he intend to do about it?

6. What is the meaning of the final two lines of the poem?

“Easter Wings”

1. This is one of Herbert's so-called shape poems, where the shape of the poem reflects its meaning. But it does something more than just represent the title graphically. Compare the first and the second halves of both stanzasWa - how do the shrinking and growing lines correspond to what is said in them?

2. Why is Easter mentioned in the title of the poem?

3. What is the “flight” to which the speaker refers?

“Love”

1. What role does Love play in relation to his guest? What is the unspoken pun here?

2. How does Love overcome the speaker's feelings about his unworthiness as a guest?

3. Compare and contrast the relationship between the soul and God in this poem and in Donne's “Batter my heart…”

4. What is the metre of the poem? How does the rhythm of the poem relate to its subject matter?

Andrew Marvell “To His Coy Mistress”

1. The poem begins with a supposition, “what-if” kind of sentence. What is this hypothetical situation the poet imagines?

2. Certain sound effects in the first part of the poem slow the reader down, while in the second part the poem speeds up. Can you tell why?

3. By referring to “the conversion of the Jews” Marvell alludes to a certain belief popular in his times. When, according to seventeenth-century people, was this event going to happen?

4. Why does the poet call his love “vegetable”?

5. What poetic tradition does the poet refer to by saying how much time he would like to spend on praising the individual parts of the lover's body?

6. After the warm fantasy of the first part the poet confronts it with reality. How does he describe it?

7. The poem is constructed like a logical argument: the first premise, the second premise and after the word “therefore” the conclusion. Can you spot the subtle logical fallacy in the reasoning?

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