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
Structure and versification in My Own Heart, Let Me Have More Pity On
Regularity
The sonnet structure is identical to To Seem the Stranger, both in its quatrain and sestet structure, its rhyming and even the enjambement pattern. The thought is structured inevitably in much the same way, though the ending here is slightly more upbeat.
Brevity
The use of ellipsis tends towards short lines, so that the fifth foot of the pentameter is sometimes hard to find, as in ll.2,5. There is no obvious use of sprung rhythm, certainly no outriders. Most lines fall easily into an iambic pentameter line however, and sometimes the word order is displaced to accommodate this, as in l.1 where ‘more' is moved in front of ‘have' to give a more regular scansion. The regularity emphasises the restrained tone.
Counterpoint
The marked enjambements with mid-line stops and caesurae are the main feature of the counterpointed rhythms, a feature that occurs in all these dark sonnets.
Investigating My Own Heart
- Scan ll.3,13.
- Does the rhythm actually suggest torment?
- At what sort of speed do you feel comfortable reading the poem?
- Would you read it softly- and if so, what sounds and words would you emphasise to achieve such an effect?
- If you would prefer to read it some other way, then what emphasis would you give?
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'.
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.
A line containing five stressed syllables or feet.
A term given by Gerard Manley Hopkins to his versification. It does have a regular basic metre, but contains additional feet or outriders and other planned irregularities.
A term coined by Gerard Manley Hopkins to denote a syllable or group of syllables not to be counted in the scansion. Also called hangers.
A line containing five metrical feet each consisting of one stressed and one unstressed syllable.
Measuring the metre of verse, by determining the patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables, and the length of each line.
The tone of voice in which anything is to be read in: e.g. lyrical, dramatic, contemplative.
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.
A pause, often indicated in text by a comma or full stop, during a line of blank verse.
Rhythm is the musical effect of the repetition of stresses or beats, and the speed or tempo at which these may be read.
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