Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- What do you think the speaker means when he describes the curious glow of the statue? How, in your mind's eye, can a hunk of rock be "suffused with brilliance from inside"? What do you think the poet is actually describing?
- The speaker frames the statue in many different ways—like "fruit," "a lamp," a "cascade," "a wild beast," "a star." What does this add up to, for you? What's your mental image of the object he describes?
- Why do you think the speaker uses pronouns like "we" and "you" instead of "I"?
- What do you make of the shift in tone in the last line—"You must change your life"? Why would the poem, which is so reflective up to this point, suddenly become so commanding?