Fair enough, Burton does layer it on pretty thick, although I think a lot of poets from this period especially were quite consciously affecting the same way through their writings... I don't think he'd get away with it when reading Plath - perhaps all English poetry was a bit of a stretch ;)
But its the 'Hound' of heaven! Power incarnate, surely. Although I suspect we're coming at it from quite different angles, I might have to read it again...
Yes, I see what you mean... But, I maintain that booming Burton is better suited for the Hound of Heaven parts, not the contrite protagonist who is narrating the poem and living miserably with their god-shaped hole.
It's a believer's poem, to be sure -- more specifically, a convert's -- and when one has been through hell and back, they tend to sound less proud, more tender and sweetly defeated (I think).