Theology

“Theology” is an example of free verse, as the lines don’t rhyme or have a specified number of unstressed and stressed syllables. The poem is free to look how it wants. The absence of traditional form and meter advances the iconoclastic subject matter and harsh tone. The poem breaks from historical forms just as it deviates from established beliefs about what occurred in the Garden of Eden.

The lack of a musical meter and mellifluous sounds reinforces the unpleasant situation. Adam gives in to temptation, Eve consumes Adam, and the Devil/serpent eats Eve. These are not agreeable events, so it makes sense for the poem to have a discordant meter and a flat sound.

Hughes does impose form by making the lines relatively even. All three stanzas are quatrains, as the poem comprises three stanzas of four lines. The neat lines and stanzas create order, which reflects the precise retelling of events. Although it's turbulent, the poem isn’t chaotic. The tone is matter-of-fact. There’s an identifiable hierarchy, with Adam at the bottom and the serpent at the top in “Paradise” (Line 10). The form links to the poem’s clear sequence of events and power structure.