Essay Questions

The speaker refers to “one sure element" near the end of the poem. To what does this refer?

The speaker is offering praise to God for all the miraculous examples of creation. These miracles begin with the twinkle in a tiger’s eye and expands outward to the most massive stars in the universe. But God is not alone in having the ability to create; He is only alone in the possession the ability to create perfect order and rule. The creatures of the earth are all endowed with the ability to replicate God’s creation in one very finite sense: procreation. This is the “one sure element” to which the speaker refers.

What is the effect of the repeating “testify” as the last word of line 4 and the first word of line 5?

The speaker is establishing the idea that not only has God created everything in the universe, but He has also invested it with order and rule. Chaos exists, but it is not the handiwork of God. The effect of bringing the first stanza to a close with the same word that then commences the second stanza is the subtle reflection of God’s order. And yet, at the very time, it is also one of the poem’s few concessions to the reality that chaos exists within that order. The word links not just the two lines in which it appears, but also two separate stanzas and that is exemplifies the perfect order which links everything created in the universe together. At the same time, it is an awkward use of language; not just repetitive, but—one might argue—exemplifying imperfection on the part of the poet who could quite easily have substituted a synonym. Therefore, the technique reflects both God’s perfect order and man’s chaotic disorder.

What is the transcendent subtlety of the poet's decision to directly praise the creation, but not the Creator?

One could describe this poem as a work of religious verse. In testifying that order exists in the universe and that only God or some god-like entity could be responsible for that, it works as a poem which would be right at home in a sermon on any Sunday. So why the lack of credit for the Creator in this praise of creation? One very powerful argument that can be made is that the poet purposely avoids giving credit not simply because it isn’t necessary, but because God’s handiwork is so perfect that it is also invisible. God is working his miraculous and mysterious ways all around us every day, but in a way so lacking in calling attention to it, that it can’t be proven. The lack of God by reference in the poem therefore become commentary on the inability to prove His existence through His acts of creation.