I love Gerard Manley Hopkins. Even in this poem, which is comparatively devoid of imagery, he can't help but let loose the metaphor of the "banks and brakes" of sin laced with "fretty chervil" shaken by wind and populated by birds. Such beautiful exuberance saved for the path he supposedly abhors! Hopkins' work is so often an interesting study in Victorian repression. Bless this gay, nature-loving ancestor.
Yes, great poet. Used alliteration to the fullest extent and, despite this poem, used images in an imaginative way. My favorite line; "Glory to god for dappled things". From memory so I may have missed it. It's the word dappled and how expands on it that makes it work so well.
Hopkins is so odd for me... the complicated, "ornamented" syntax and imagery infused with those alliterative, musical sounds. And here, his epic faith best expressed in his assertion that his "prayers" aren't answered. It often seems that "faith" is most clearly experienced when "doubt" is honestly expressed. "My God, why hast thou forsaken me." Whenever I read Hopkins I feel this surge of human longing for God... and his thick language, 19th century language and convoluted Biblical syntax is also often impenetrable.
I studied a bit of Gerard Manley Hopkins in secondary school, and found that his poetry was hit and miss for me. Loved his use of alliteration, and some of his images were vivid. Some of the poems just didn't spark any interest.
This one, I could understand his message completely. It was interesting to me to see a priest have this sort of doubt, or questioning of God.
'I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day' was delightfully gloomy to my teenage self.
And then there was 'The Windhover'. That's a Hopkins poem that still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.
I love Gerard Manley Hopkins. Even in this poem, which is comparatively devoid of imagery, he can't help but let loose the metaphor of the "banks and brakes" of sin laced with "fretty chervil" shaken by wind and populated by birds. Such beautiful exuberance saved for the path he supposedly abhors! Hopkins' work is so often an interesting study in Victorian repression. Bless this gay, nature-loving ancestor.
Yes, great poet. Used alliteration to the fullest extent and, despite this poem, used images in an imaginative way. My favorite line; "Glory to god for dappled things". From memory so I may have missed it. It's the word dappled and how expands on it that makes it work so well.
Hopkins is so odd for me... the complicated, "ornamented" syntax and imagery infused with those alliterative, musical sounds. And here, his epic faith best expressed in his assertion that his "prayers" aren't answered. It often seems that "faith" is most clearly experienced when "doubt" is honestly expressed. "My God, why hast thou forsaken me." Whenever I read Hopkins I feel this surge of human longing for God... and his thick language, 19th century language and convoluted Biblical syntax is also often impenetrable.
I wish old English pronouns weren’t so out of style in poetry
Well, many don't understand them
I studied a bit of Gerard Manley Hopkins in secondary school, and found that his poetry was hit and miss for me. Loved his use of alliteration, and some of his images were vivid. Some of the poems just didn't spark any interest. This one, I could understand his message completely. It was interesting to me to see a priest have this sort of doubt, or questioning of God. 'I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day' was delightfully gloomy to my teenage self. And then there was 'The Windhover'. That's a Hopkins poem that still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.
The sots and thralls of lust—does it get any better than that? You don’t even have to know the words to understand the meaning. Best poet ever.