Tranströmer has had a lifelong interest in psychology, and he has worked for many years as a psychologist in Västerås, Sweden. How does "Answers to Letters" relate to the field of psychology? Can you find other examples of poems that reflect themes related to psychology in The Wild Market-Square in other collections of Tranströmer's poetry? How do these poems bring out psychological ideas and how do psychological theories improve or change your understanding of them? Do some research into the theories of famous twentieth-century psychologists such as Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung in order to construct your answer.

Robert Bly is Tranströmer's friend and chief advocate in the United States. Read some of Bly's poetry, such as This Tree Will Be Here for a Thousand Years (1979), and discuss the similarities and differences...