Religious Belief

The poet uses this theme to explore her doubts about the existence of God in philosophical first-person poems from her perspective addressed directly to God. In the first half of the collection, many of these poems are titled “Matins,” which is a term for morning prayers in the Christian faith, while the poems in the second half are titled “Vespers,” the term for evening prayers. These titles, along with biblical allusions such as references to the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible, make it clear that it is the Judeo-Christian iteration of God that Glück is drawing from. Glück's primary concern in these poems is that she feels uncertain of God's existence. This concern serves as one of the narrative arcs of The Wild Iris, as Glück moves through a cycle of emotions related to her agnosticism, from confusion to...