SOURCE: "Young's Night Thoughts and the Tradition of Divine Poetry," in Ball State University Forum, Vol. XII, No. 2, Spring, 1971, pp. 3-13.

Below, Odell explores the ways in which "Young fully adopts the theory of divine poetry inherited from the preceding centuries and modified for the eighteenth century."

Such prominent characteristics of Young's Night Thoughts as the urge to edify, the constant display of emotion, and the use of a personal, confessional tone are usually discussed in the context of Young's life or of the romantic poetry to come or of both. H. H. Clark, for example, attributes the subjective, personal note to the life and character of Young and to his concept of original genius. He explains Young's emotionalism in terms of a "romantic" aspiration, which is "indefinite and expansive" and leads to "ennui and restless melancholy": Young lacks "true Christian aspiration," which is "focused … on the imitation...