Britten did not set all lines of the poem, but Peter Porter in The Britten Companion writes that the passages he selected are "more than well chosen", amounting to a "biopsy" of the entire work. In an analysis of Rejoice in the Lamb, Hilary Seraph Donaldson writes that Britten – who at the time of writing the piece was in a taboo same-sex relationship – may have empathised with Smart, who was also a misunderstood outcast.
Britten did not set all lines of the poem, but Peter Porter in The Britten Companion asserts that the passages he selected are "more than well chosen", amounting to an examination of the entire work. In an analysis of Rejoice in the Lamb, Hilary Seraph Donaldson posits that Britten, who was in a taboo same-sex relationship at the time, may have identified with Smart, another outcast.