Gerard Manley Hopkins, selected poems Contents
- As Kingfishers Catch Fire
- Binsey Poplars
- The Blessed Virgin Mary Compared to the Air We Breathe
- Carrion Comfort
- Duns Scotus' Oxford
- God's Grandeur
- Harry Ploughman
- Henry Purcell
- Hurrahing in Harvest
- Inversnaid
- I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark
- Synopsis of I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark
- Commentary on I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark
- Language and tone in I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark
- Structure and versification in I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark
- Imagery and symbolism in I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark
- Themes in I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark
- The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo
- Synopsis of The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo
- Commentary on The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo
- Language and tone in The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo
- Structure and versification in The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo
- Imagery and symbolism in The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo
- Themes in The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo
- The May Magnificat
- My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
- Synopsis of My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
- Commentary on My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
- Language and tone in My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
- Structure and versification in My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
- Imagery and symbolism in My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
- Themes in My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
- No Worst, There is None
- Patience, Hard Thing!
- Pied Beauty
- The Sea and the Skylark
- Spelt from Sibyl's Leaves
- Spring
- Spring and Fall
- St. Alphonsus Rodriguez
- The Starlight Night
- That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection
- Synopsis of That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire
- Commentary on That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire
- Language and tone in That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire
- Structure and versification in That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire
- Imagery and symbolism in That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire
- Themes in That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire
- Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord
- Tom's Garland
- To Seem the Stranger
- To What Serves Mortal Beauty
- The Windhover
- The Wreck of the Deutschland
- Beauty and its purpose
- The beauty, variety and uniqueness of nature
- Christ's beauty
- Conservation and renewal of nature
- God's sovereignty
- The grace of ordinary life
- Mary as a channel of grace
- Nature as God's book
- Night, the dark night of the soul
- Serving God
- Suffering and faith
- The temptation to despair
- The ugliness of modern life
- Understanding evil in a world God has made
Figures of speech in The Wreck of the Deutschland
Metaphor and personification
The main figure of speech is the metaphor. Similes are rarely used, perhaps we could say, never.
Personification is used of death (11); hope (15) and heart (18). A specific type of personification is anthropomorphism, in which God is given human characteristics, e.g. ‘thy finger' (1); ‘frown of his face' (3); ‘fondler' (9); ‘feathers' (12).
Other figures of speech
Less used figures are:
- metonymy (e.g. ‘maiden's knee' (7) representing her maternal love)
- synecdoche ‘telling of tongue' (9) (part of the anatomy to represent the whole of the speech act)
- oxymoron (e.g. ‘winter and warm' (two opposite concepts put together as if the same)).
- apostrophe, or a direct address to someone or something, occurs in the apostrophe to his heart (18).
Investigating figures of speech in The Wreck of the Deutschland
- What effect does Hopkins achieve by using metaphors to the exclusion of similes?
An image or form of comparison where one thing is said actually to be another - e.g. 'fleecy clouds'.
An image where one thing is said to be 'as' or 'like' another: e.g. 'He jumped up like a jack-in-the-box'.
A figure of speech where a non-person, for example an animal, the weather, or some inanimate object, is described as if it were a person, being given human qualities.
The use of language applicable to human beings in speaking of God.
Figure of speech, wherein a certain quality of a thing or a person is used to represent it entirely
A figure of speech, where some part of an object is taken to represent it all.
A Figure of speech in which two apparently opposite words or ideas are put together as if they were in agreement.
1. A turning aside to address someone directly in a poem.
2. The sign ( ' ) used to indicate the omission of one or more letters or to denote possession in a noun.
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