What is the “perfumed sea”?

Answer: A calm, sweet-smelling sea that symbolizes peace and rest.

Who is the “weary wanderer”?

Answer: The poet himself, tired from life’s struggles.

What does the wanderer long for?

Answer: He longs for peace and a sense of home.

What does Helen’s “hyacinth hair” suggest?

Answer: It suggests her dark, soft, and natural beauty.

What does “classic face” mean?

Answer: It means a face like Greek and Roman statues, perfect and balanced.

What are “Naiad airs”?

Answer: Helen’s gentle, graceful movements are like water-nymphs in Greek myth.

What effect do Helen’s Naiad airs have on the poet?

Answer: They bring him mental peace and lead him home.

What does “the glory that was Greece” refer to?

Answer: It refers to ancient Greek culture, beauty, and knowledge.

What does “the grandeur that was Rome” refer to?

Answer: It refers to the power, greatness, and beauty of ancient Rome.

Where does the poet see Helen standing in Stanza 3?

Answer: He sees her standing in a bright window-niche.

How does Helen appear in the window-niche?

Answer: She appears like a statue, calm and beautiful.

What is Helen holding in her hand?

Answer: She is holding an agate lamp.

What does the “agate lamp” symbolize?

Answer: It symbolizes light, wisdom, and spiritual guidance.

Why does the poet call Helen “Psyche”?

Answer: Because she seems like the goddess of the soul, pure and spiritual.

What is the “Holy-Land” in the poem?

Answer: It is a symbolic place of purity and spiritual beauty.

What is the main theme of the poem?

Answer: The healing power of beauty and the spiritual peace it brings.

How does Helen help the poet emotionally?

Answer: Her beauty brings him calmness and makes him feel safe.

Why does the poet mention Greece and Rome?

Answer: To show that Helen represents ideal beauty and high culture.

What tone runs throughout the poem?

Answer: A tone of admiration, respect, and deep calmness.

What kind of poem is “To Helen”?

Answer: It is a short lyric poem praising ideal beauty.

What does the poem mainly celebrate?

Answer: It celebrates beauty as a guiding, healing, and uplifting force.