Study Questions on Herbert, Blake, and Herrick:

1. In Blake's "The Tyger," what changes do you see between the opening and closing stanzas?  Do they make a difference in your understanding of the poem?

2. What differences are there between "The Sick Rose" and "the Garden of Love"?  How would "The Sick Rose" be different if there were three stanzas?  Why does the three-stanza poem tell a story while the two-stanza poem does not?  Can you imagine why he chose to use two stanzas instead?

3. In "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time," what reasoning does Herrick use to convince girls to "gather rosebuds"?

4. Why does "Upon Julia's Clothes" give us Julia dressed and undressed?  Why does he omit the stage of Julia undressing?

5. What image does Herbert create in "Easter Wings"?  What other shapes does the poem resemble besides wings?

6.  Why does Herbert use "The Pulley" as the title of his poem?