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 No Worst, There is None
Regularity and counterpoint
The sonnet form seems very regular compared to some. There is a clear octave/sestet division, and the octave is divided neatly but unobtrusively into two quatrains. The metre seems to revert to the traditional iambic pentameter form by and large with few outriders or hurried feet. Line 4, in fact, barely makes five feet, though to compensate, l.6 would seem to have at least six feet if we count the first ‘Woe' as stressed (and the alliteration would seem to ask for it). Only the last sad line has an abundance of spondees:
‘Lífe déath does énd and éach dáy díes in sléep'
The other notable structuring device is the enjambement, which, together with a number of caesurae, gives a rich counterpointing. Lines ll.5,6 and ll.7,8 are good examples, as well as the whole of the sestet. Only in the last line does the rhythm become resolved and unified as some glimpse of peace is attained.
Investigating No Worst
- For a fuller explanation of counterpointing and the points made in the last paragraph, see the notes on Thou art Indeed Just, Lord.
- Look at the alliterations.
- What is the effect of the p/w alliterations in the first two lines?
- And the f- alliterations later?
- Would you say they help structure the poem or, rather, emphasise certain words?
- Overall, would you say that the poem has memorable lines, rather than being memorable in itself?
- Or would you say it is a remarkably honest depiction of a mind ‘at the end of its tether'?
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.
A quatrain is a 4-line stanza, usually rhyming.
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.
A line containing five metrical feet each consisting of one stressed and one unstressed syllable.
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.
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.
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.
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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