Gerard Manley Hopkins, selected poems Contents
Structure and versification in God's Grandeur
A traditional sonnet?
The sonnet form draws attention to itself:
- It is a traditional Petrarchan sonnet
- It was an octave and sestet
- The rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdcdcd
- Basically, it is iambic pentameter, the traditional metre.
But it doesn't feel traditional in its form:
- The alliterative pattern sets up a counterpoint to the metre
- There is often a caesura in the middle of the line, drawing our attention away from the end of the lines and the rhyme scheme there – again, a counterpointing
- Caesuras, or pauses, could be placed in the middle of each line in the octave, though not in the sestet. Can you see where?
- There are obvious enjambements, carried-over lines, as in ‘Crushed' (l.4); ‘Is bare'(l.8); ‘Oh'(l.12); ‘World'(l.14). Each of these has an emphatic point to make and seriously disturbs the smoothness of the iambic lines.
Hopkins' metre
Hopkins' complicated way of using metre is more fully explained in Appendix 1. Here, just some features will be mentioned:
- The first line really only has four stressed syllables (world, charged, grand-, God). So it seems to get off to an irregular start, unless, that is to say, we put a stress on ‘with'. Should we?
- In the second line, we don't see any real iambic pattern. Instead we get ‘flame out', with both words stressed, as are ‘shook foil': emphatic but not regular.
In fact, we wonder how committed Hopkins is to a regular metre. In this, he was foreshadowing the development of modern poetry.
Investigating God's Grandeur
- Take any two consecutive lines.
- Can you work out where the stressed syllables are?
- Can you see any pattern?
- More importantly, can you see what effect Hopkins is achieving?
- What effect does Hopkins achieve in delaying ‘Crushed' to the next line?
- We have said the sestet does not seem to use so many caesurae.
- What effect does this have as compared to the octave's effect?
- Look at the poem as a whole.
- What single feature of the poem stands out to you as being effective?
- Are there any lines you consider memorable?
A sonnet is a poem with a special structure. It has fourteen lines, which are organised in a particular manner, usually characterised by the pattern of rhyming, which changes as the ideas in the poem evolve.
In the style of Petrarch, an Italian poet of the sixteenth century, who created both a form of the sonnet and presented a courtly ideal of womanhood.
The 8-line stanza of a Petrarchan sonnet, always occupying the first eight lines. It sometimes has a division halfway, creating two quatrains. It poses a problem or describes some single object or incident.
The 6-line stanza of a Petrarchan sonnet, occupying the last six lines, sometimes divided into tercets or couplets. It often resolves the problem posed in the octave or comments significantly on it.
The device, frequently used at the ends of lines in poetry, where words with the same sound are paired, sometimes for contrast ' for example, 'breath' and 'death'.
A line containing five metrical feet each consisting of one stressed and one unstressed syllable.
The particular measurement in a line of poetry, determined by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (in some languages, the pattern of long and short syllables). It is the measured basis of rhythm.
In music, the playing of two tunes at the same time, allowing them to interweave. In poetry, the use of two rhythms at the same time, for example, one being based on the metre, and one on the grammatical structure of the sentence.
A pause, often indicated in text by a comma or full stop, during a line of blank verse.
The technique used in blank verse and other verse forms in which the sense of a line runs on without a pause to the next one; this often gives a sense of greater fluency to the lines.
In all languages, some syllables are pronounced with more of an emphasis than others. In poetry of many languages, this becomes a significant means of patterning. The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables within a line of verse is called its
Related material
Scan and go
Scan on your mobile for direct link.