Mark, good to have you chiming in.

I get your general idea: the mystical/reportorial assertions of Smart appeal to you much less than the Jonson's firm, beautifully thought-through moral examination of his own torments. Dread and introspection in Jonson's great poem, a frenzy of outward attention in this one.

But I think"gauzy" and "does not believe anything in particular" are unconvincing descriptions of Smart's lines. He pretty clearly believes in certain principles of celebration and observation, and far from "gauzy" the texure of both language and attention are dense, energetic-- in my view, more strobe-like than filmy. And I don't think the point is yearning to be like Jeoffry but to praise him, as a significant reality :each creature a portal into the mystical nature of creation. The cat, the mouse, the beavers, are a supplement to, or critique of, conventional liturgy. Smart is stringent and obsessed, not a mere New Age gauze-meister!