Essay Questions

What does the narrator want to transmit by the line "blush my soul’’ in the poem "I go to prepare a place for you’’?

The term blush can be understood here in two ways, as transmitting two different emotions. Here, the first emotion it may transmit is shame. The shame the narrator feels may be related to the previous lines, in which he describes the way humans chose to give value to things that do not have a real value. By urging his soul to blush, the narrator may want to transmit the idea he belongs in the group of people who do not appreciate wisdom. The term blush may also be linked with the rest of the poem, where the narrator talks about the arrival of ‘’The King of Kings’’, Jesus Christ. Thus, the term ‘’blush’’ may be used in this context to transmit excitement and happiness, feelings experienced by the narrator when thinking about the arrival of Jesus Christ.

What is the "wicker cage’’ the narrator mentions in the poem "I am Living Bread’’?

The ‘’wicker cage’’ is used in this poem as a way to make reference to the human body. Wicker is a general term used to make reference to something that is not durable, made out of elements with a short life. Through this image, the narrator wants to transmit the idea that the human body is weak and unimportant. But it has something important in it, and that is the soul which will continue to live on. While the body feeds of feeble things, the soul needs spiritual elements to survive and so the narrator urges the reader to always pursue the true food and get fooled and fall into sin.

What are the flames of Hell extinguished by love in the poem "Meditation 1’’?

In this poem, the narrator describes how love originates in Heaven and then overflows the Earth. Once it arrives here, it enters every person and stays in their veins where it puts down the flames of Hell. The idea of flames transmits the message that it is something uncontrollable by humans, something that could destroy a person. Because those flames can only be extinguished by Heavenly Love, it could mean that the flames are used here as a symbol for the sin that exists in every person and could lead a person to damnation. Fortunately, these flames can be tempered by faith and thus a person can be saved.