Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- What does seeing "a world in a grain of sand" really mean? Is it a mystical thing, or is it simpler and more ordinary? Could it be both? Why do you think so?
- Why does Blake use so many animals in this poem? Is he just a big animal rights fan, or is it something else?
- What is Blake saying about spirituality vs. skepticism? Is he closer to someone with a secular viewpoint in some ways? Or are his views pretty strictly religious?
- Is there any kind of overarching order in this poem (even though it's basically made of scraps that were put together from Blake's notebooks)? Do we end up somewhere different from where we were at the beginning—does Blake intend us to be wiser?
- What is Blake's approach to spirituality? How does he want people to start acting and seeing things?
- What is Blake's attitude toward society as a whole? Does he think it could be organized differently? If so, in what ways does the poem suggest he'd change things?