God's Silence: On Herbert's Deniall

Abstract

As one of the richest poems in The Temple, "Deniell" hos ettrected ß fair share of critical attention, but it hes to some extent eluded even our best critics. Not unreesonebly; it is en unusuel poem which seems Almost too usuel. There ere several brood erees which hove not received sufficient ettention: the prosody, the conclusion, the theologicel context, end the narrative cherocter. My own study leeds me to believe that the prosody is intricete, subtle, demending, end remerkebly effective; that the conclusion needs to be delicately understood within the total poem; that the poem is fundementelly e textured nerretive of spiritual dryness, with contrapuntal structures and ambivalent conclusion.