Themes in Inversnaid

Conservation of Nature

This is an implicit, rather than explicit, theme in a poem that consists of description and prayer. Today, people are even more aware of the ‘tourist trap': tourists love to visit beautiful, isolated places, so they become less isolated, so they lose their attraction. Hopkins was not yet anticipating this, but, as modern readers, we cannot avoid thinking about it.

Investigating Inversnaid
  • Does Hopkins' poem make you want to visit the Scottish Highlands?
    • Or is your engagement in it purely imaginative?
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