Spring- Gerard Manley Hopkins - 1347 Words

Spring Gerard Manley Hopkins [1844-1899] Relevant Background †¢ Hopkins was a priest who wrote Nature Poetry. †¢ He celebrated beauty in the natural world. He loved the freshness of spring. †¢ In many of his poems, like ‘Spring’, he linked beauty in nature to prayer. †¢ He thought that beauty in nature was a reminder of God’s love and greatness. †¢ He thought that beauty in nature was a reminder of the innocence and purity of childhood. †¢ He wrote this poem more than a hundred years ago. †¢ Hopkins wrote in a beautiful style that was sometimes difficult. He liked to express his feelings and views in new ways. He left out words such as ‘like’ in line three and changed the normal word order like in line eight. †¢ He often used striking†¦show more content†¦Hopkins regards nature’s beauty as a memory of Paradise: ‘ A strain of the earth s sweet being in the beginning in Eden garden’ Hopkins feels despair at the way maturity spoils childhood innocence: ‘sour with sinning’. He worries for the future of innocent minds. He tells Jesus to preserve children’s perfect innocence. Tones In the octave and the tone is happy and full of celebration: ‘Nothing is so beautiful as spring’ In line nine the tone is questioning: ‘What is all this juice and all this joy?’ Sometimes, also as in line nine, the tone is full of energy: ‘What is all this juice and all this joy?’ In the sestet the tone changes and becomes urgent and anxious: ‘Have, get, before it cloy, before it cloud’ In the sestet there is also a tone of regret that contrasts with the joy of the octave: ‘Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning’ In the sestet the tone is pleading: ‘Have, get’ In the sestet the tone is prayerful: ‘Most, O maid s child, thy choice’ Imagery Hopkins uses many comparisons: He compares the ‘eggs of a thrush’ to the speckled and cloud patterned sky. This is a simile, with the word ‘like’ omitted. He compares the song of the thrush to lightning, another simile. He compares springtime to the Garden of Eden from the bible. This comparison is a metaphor. Notice how he compares the pear tree in the distance to a paintbrush colouring the sky, another metaphor. Note how Hopkins usesShow MoreRelatedSpring by Gerard Manley Hopkins767 Words   |  3 PagesWith every end, there is a beginning. When the cold winter ends, there is a new beginning in nature where the trees and flowers start fresh as they grow once again. The poem â€Å"Spring†, takes us, readers, to a setting where the place shows complete nature. We are to imagine aesthetic scenery where spring has arrived and everything that happens during this season is happening right in front of us. The speaker seems to appreciate nature so much that he sees the complete difference between the seasonsRead MoreThe Beauty Of Spring, By Gerard Manley Hopkins1416 Words   |  6 Pages At first, Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poem, â€Å"Spring,† seems to be just about the season of spring per its title. However, in considering Hopkins’s Catholic Christian background, this poem is also about beauty and sin and their effects on nature in relation to the story in the book of Genesis about Adam and Eve. â€Å"Spring† is a Petrarchan sonnet split into an octet and sestet and is organized in such a way to allow Hopkins to discuss beauty and how it (through sin) corrupts itself and humanity personifiedRead MoreThe Relationship Between Man and God Essay2522 Words   |  11 PagesGerard Manley Hopkins’ poem â€Å"Carrion Comfort† was written after his ordainment as a Jesuit priest, and his conversion from a High Church Anglican. At the time of his ordain ment, Manley Hopkins believed practicing poetry interfered with his relationship with God and thus led him to give up poetry almost entirely for seven years. However, in 1872 he recanted this belief and returned to writing. In 1884 he accepted a position teaching Greek and Latin at the University College Dublin. During his timeRead MoreHuman Connection With The World1022 Words   |  5 Pagesenvironment. William Wordsworth and Gerard Manley Hopkins were two of the poets during the Nineteenth century who were known for being leading nature poets in British literary history. The poem â€Å"The World is Too Much with Us† by William Wordsworth written during the Romantic Era is very similar to the Victorian poem â€Å"God’s Grandeur† by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Thus, both poems could be compared as they have similar themes of society and nature. Wordsworth and Hopkins express their feelings in their poemsRead More Comparing Matthew Arnolds Dover Beach and Gerard Manl ey HopkinsGods Grandeur1291 Words   |  6 PagesComparing Matthew Arnolds Dover Beach and Gerard Manley HopkinsGods Grandeur      Ã‚   Matthew Arnolds Dover Beach, and Gerard Manley Hopkins Gods Grandeur are similar in that both poems praise the beauty of the natural world and deplore mans role in that world. The style and tone of each poem is quite different, however. Arnold writes in an easy, flowing style and as the poem develops, reveals a deeply melancholy point of view. Hopkins writes in a very compressed, somewhat jerky styleRead MoreGod s Grandeur, By Gerard Manley Hopkins1115 Words   |  5 Pagesto each other. â€Å"God’s Grandeur†, a poem written in 1877 by Gerard Manley Hopkins depicts the interconnection between the natural world and humankind. The poem describes the beauty of God’s creation and how humankind tends to dismiss the fact that the world is a beautiful place. Hopkins formats the poem as a fourteen line sonnet where a problem is introduced in the first eight lines and a solution to the problem in the last 6 lines. Hopkins uses describing words like â€Å"greatn ess† and â€Å"grandeur† to describeRead MoreCompare the Ways in Which Hopkins’ ‘God’s Grandeur’ and Wordsworth’s ‘the World Is Too Much with Us’ Use the Sonnet Form to Address Their Contemporary Concerns.4584 Words   |  19 Pagesenvironmental change, experienced an astounding shift in poetic style, in which many based their work on the ‘beauty’ of their surroundings, and how mankind affected this. Of this period, two of the leading nature poets in British literary history, Gerard Manley Hopkins and William Wordsworth became known, renowned as great figures in British literary history. Both adopted a ‘sacramental’ view of nature, that is they saw beyond the obvious features commonly associated with the natural world such as phenomenalRead MoreGerard Manley Hopkins2457 Words   |  10 Pagesnineteenth and twentieth centuries, Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poetry is of great significance. As ofte n the case with innovators and artists who are ahead of their times, Gerard Manley Hopkins was torn by contradictions and his poems regarded as unconventional for the historical period. His works are specifically marked by the varied use of linguistic features and rhythmic patterns which did not match the traditional writing styles of the nineteenth century. Hopkins uses what he terms ‘sprung rhythm,’Read MoreStrength of Feeling in Spring and Holy Sonnet 10 Essay2255 Words   |  10 Pagesin Spring and Holy Sonnet 10 Spring, written by Gerard Manley-Hopkins, employs the ideas of the beauty of the season. Manley-Hopkins introduces references to his faith, portraying a religious approach. The feelings experienced within the sonnet are very intense, and the reader becomes progressively more engrossed amid the lines of the sonnet, as the poet delves into the peril that spring might be spoiled, and the innocence of youth might be lost. Manley-Hopkins addressesRead More God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manly Hopkins Essay1358 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"God’s Grandeur† by Gerard Manly Hopkins As a Jesuit priest, Gerard Manly Hopkins devoted many years of his life to spiritual study and instruction. As seen in his poem â€Å"God’s Grandeur†, Hopkins translated his intense spirituality into poems that explore the relationship between humans and the natural world as an expression of God’s divinity. In the poem, Hopkins presents the Victorian fixation on progress and change not as an improvement, but rather as a regression from a constructive