Controversies about the meaning and structure of “Saul” have largely ignored its mystical elements. Although there is still no general consensus on the poem's theological meaning, few critics can accept in toto the views of Roma A. King, Jr., in The Bow and the Lyre (1957) that Browning's artistic purpose is confused, his theological system vague, and thus the poetic structure a failure as a “lyrical-mystical communication….” The two most effective answers to King's criticism are by W. David Shaw in “The Analogical Argument of Browning's ‘Saul’” (1964) and Victor A. Neufeldt in “Browning's ‘Saul’ in the Context of the Age” (1974). Assuming that the poem's thought is self-consistent, intellectually respectable, and essentially didactic, they both correctly disagree with King as to the alleged offensiveness of its message. Yet, in partial agreement with King, they mistakenly, I think, find the structure of “Saul” to be flawed; they also slight its emphasis on mystical experience.