Synopsis of The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo

Inspiration

The poem was written at Stonyhurst, Lancashire, in 1882. Originally it was to form part of a verse drama entitled St. Winefred's Well, fragments of which are preserved in some of the larger editions of Hopkins' poems.

The play was based on the story of a local Welsh saint, whose well is still to be found at Holywell, North Wales, near St. Beuno's, where Hopkins had been studying. Winefred's miraculous return to life after having her head cut off by a rejected suitor, is reputed to have been the source of healing in the waters of the well.