Sacred silences
Kate Mcloughlin
March 19, 2026 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192855626.003.0005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that early modern English Catholic, Anglican, and Quaker poetry each developed distinct traditions of silent meditation and contemplation. Catholic poets used a noiseless motif of tears for sorrow, Anglicans rejected curiositas and used humble speech, Thomas Traherne treated silence as ecstatic vision, and Quaker silence could reach visionary heights. |
Abstract
Abstract Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and Quakerism all had traditions of silent meditation and contemplation in the early modern period and these emerge in poetry. Under Elizabeth I, English Catholics were forced to be clandestine. The noiseless motif of tears appears in the poetry of Robert Southwell and Richard Crashaw to express Catholic sorrow and remorse. Anglican writers renounce curiositas, deploy sermo humilis (humble speech) and focus on senses other than the auditory. For Thomas Traherne, silence is an ecstatic visionary state. Quaker silence has an accompanying understated lifestyle, but can reach visionary heights. Silence emerges as the accompaniment to the most intense moments of people’s religious lives.