“Belief in God is an inclination to listen...” Robert Lowell, “No Hearing 3.” In Ingmar Bergman’s 1962 film Winter Light, sexton Algot Frövik questions Pastor Tomas Ericsson about the Passion of Christ. Algot inquiries as to why so much emphasis is placed on the physical suffering of Jesus, and not his psychological suffering. The physical suffering, he argues, was brief in comparison to the betrayals Christ experience from his twelve disciples, and more importantly from God, who did not answer him on the cross. “Wasn’t God’s silence worse?” Algot asks. “Yes,” Tomas replies. A service concludes the somber film. In his poem “Rites and Ceremonies,” 20th century Jewish American poet, Anthony Hecht investigates God’s silence towards the victims of the Holocaust. A section in the second part of the poem, independently called “The Fire Sermon,” is directly inspired, both formally and thematically, by George Herbert’s “Deniall.” Over three hundred years apart, and yet both poets are experiencing the same silence from God. Although expressing similar statements of a foundering religion, the two poets experience the silence differently; the consequences and reactions to their taciturn Creator are in opposition. For Herbert, his belief and assurance of God’s presence rest on less fragile and falsifiable foundations compared to his 20th century contemporary. Hecht’s “Fire Sermon” expresses a total loss of religion, while Herbert’s “Deniall” (a type of translation of Psalm 88) admits to a temporary sense of abandonment. For a deeply religious man, Herbert’s poem touches upon a highly personal and arguably confessional feeling of bewilderment. As a self-declared religious poet from a young age, Herbert’s relationship with God is symbioti... ... middle of paper ... ...dney. Fairfield, Connecticut: The George Herbert Journal, 1995. 31-47. Print Schudel, Matt. “Anthony Hecht Obituary.” The Washington Post. 22 Oct. 2004 Web. 1 May 1, 2014 de Sélincourt, Basil “Untitled.” George Herbert: The Critical Heritage. Ed. C.A. Patrides. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul plc, 1983. 336 – 348. Print Sidney, Philip. “The Defense of Poesy.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Gen. ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 9th ed. Vol. B. New York: Norton, 2012. 1128 - 63. Print. Stein, Arnold. George Herbert’s Lyrics. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1968. Print Walton, Izaak. “The Life of Mr. George Herbert.” The Complete English Poems: George Herbert. Ed. John Tobin. London: Clays Ltd, St Ives plc, 1991. 265. Print. Wilcox, Helen. “Introduction.” The English Poems of George Herbert. Ed. Helen Wilcox London: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print