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
God's sovereignty
Theology and poetry
The sovereignty of the biblical God is probably the most theological of the themes being considered. However, since Hopkins was a committed Christian believer, it is really important to try to get to grips with the theme in order to understand his poetry.
In biblical and Christian terms, God's sovereignty means:
- his will and purposes
- the power he has to exercise them
- that God does not have to be constrained by human preference.
This doesn't mean he is seen as an arbitrary tyrant - far from it. The Bible states that God is both transcendent - that is, far beyond human understanding - and also immanent - present in the everyday world. Christians believe that his purposes are ones of love.
Love and evil
Belief in God's love challenges Hopkins in the major poem of his life, The Wreck of the Deutschland. He links it up with another theme, Understanding evil in a world God has made. One theme depends on the other and they should be studied together.
Hopkins sees the shipwrecking of the nuns in the Wreck of the Deutschland as being ultimately in God's will, and prays he will be able to work out fully the purpose of it. He has to pray like this, because God's sovereignty does not extend to forcing people to believe against their wishes, or their will. Otherwise they cease to have the ability to love God freely.
Free will
Duns Scotus was insistent on the freedom of man's will, and Hopkins follows him in this, although the language Hopkins uses, such as that of mastering and mastery, seems to suggest God did not give Hopkins personally a great deal of choice!
Just as God will not force individuals, so they cannot coerce God, a point Hopkins makes in My Own Heart. Sometimes people think of prayer as being like having God's help ‘on demand'. Hopkins believed that it was better to relax and trust God to give joy in life when he thinks best, not when humans want it.
Transcendence
That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire brings out God's transcendence. His Creation may be in a state of turmoil and flux, but it is nevertheless ordered. Although cataclysmic forces may bring about the end of the world, Hopkins believes that God's purposes run beyond this. He sees humankind as being at the centre of God's purposes in his Creation, and his intention being to create a new and perfect ‘immortal diamond' out of his children.
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