Gerard Manley Hopkins was a Victorian poet who frequently utilized symbols to demonstrate how God is evident in all living things. His allusions to God are evident in such works as: “Pied Beauty”, “Spring”, “The Windhover”, and “God’s Grandeur”. The purpose of this research is to examine the way in which Hopkins uses his terms inscape and instress to illustrate these allusions to God. Hopkins’s poetry demonstrates to the readers that seeing beyond the physical appearance of things, and recognizing God’s touch on all things allows for a deeper sense of appreciation, and makes them more beautiful. Hopkins’s poems are expressive of his view of nature and the correlating relationship between himself and God, and this pattern is obvious throughout his work.
To understand the driving force behind Hopkins’s poetry, one must understand his terms inscape and instress. Inscape is knowing that each one of us is unique, and that uniqueness comes from God. Human beings, the most unique Godly creation, can see the individuality and beauty in all other Godly creations or beings. The actual experience of recognizing this beauty and specialness in other creations is known as instress. Hopkins frequently used nature to illustrate inscape and instress. His poems about nature show that what is unique and different about each creation, is also similar, in that each being and creation is created by God. Humans in fact, though each a unique individual, are all reflections of the love and glory of our heavenly Father, and the sacrifice of Christ our Lord. Therefore, even though we are all different, we are all linked by our creator. Christ is in us all. (Greenblatt 1547)
Hopkins’s poetry supports his belief of a God-centered view of creation. (Hu...
... middle of paper ...
...h on all things allows for a deeper sense of appreciation, and makes them more beautiful. Hopkins’s poems are expressive of his view of nature and the correlating relationship between himself and God.
Works Cited
Chevigny, Bell Gale. “Instress and Devotion in the Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins.” Victorian Studies 9.2. Dec. 1965: 141-153. Rpt. In Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Vol. 189. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 May 2014.
Greenblatt, Stephen, gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 2012. Print.
Hutchinson, Hazel. “Eye Rhyme: Visual Experience and the Poetics of Gerard Manley Hopkins.” Victorian Poetry 49.2 (20011): 217-233. Literary Reference Center. Web. 6 May 2014.
Life Application Study Bible: New Living Translation. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1996. Print.
... Works Cited Everett, Nicholas. From The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Ed. Ian Hamilton.
It appears to me that pictures have been over-valued; held up by a blind admiration as ideal things, and almost as standards by which nature is to be judged rather than the reverse; and this false estimate has been sanctioned by the extravagant epithets that have been applied to painters, and "the divine," "the inspired," and so forth. Yet in reality, what are the most sublime productions of the pencil but selections of some of the forms of nature, and copies of a few of her evanescent effects, and this is the result, not of inspiration, but of long and patient study, under the instruction of much good sense…
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Abrams, M.H., et al. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. 2 Vols. New York: Norton, 1993.
Even if he grew up within nature, he didn’t really appreciate it until he became an adult. He is pantheistic; a belief that nature is divine, a God. Since he has religious aspect of nature, he believes that nature is everything and that it makes a person better. His tone in the poem is reproachful and intense. His poem purpose is to tell the readers and his loved ones that if he feels some kind of way about nature, then we should have the same feeling toward it as well.
In ‘All the Pretty Horses’ Luis states ‘among men there was no such communion as among horses and the notion that men can be understood at all was probably an illusion’, by this he means the relationship man has with nature is totally unique, it is sacred; the relationship between men is a misapprehension. In some respects the reader may agree with the statement because it is true, man’s relationship with animals and nature is fairly simple compared to man’s relationship amongst each other which is far more complex due to conflict of opinion and other complications. John Grady Cole’s relationship with Alejandra faced much turmoil and complication, one of the biggest issues they faced was the fact Alejandra’s family condemned their relationship and forbid her to be with him. To a certain extent John’s romance with Alejandra mirrors Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in respects to their forbidden love, however their story does not end in tragedy. Wordsworth shows nature to be more of a companion for man in ‘The Solitary Reaper’. The woman reaps the crops alone in the field singing with a voice so ‘thrilling’ it resonates ‘Long after it was heard no more’. Although she is lonely, she is wholly reliant upon the sustenance she receives and the relationship she has with nature. The poet proceeds to compare her to the Cuckoo and the Nightingale stating ‘No Nightingale did ever chaunt more welcome notes to weary bands’ being compared to birds with such beautiful song surely displays her oneness with nature. Unlike the ‘maiden’ Victor tries to control and dominate nature, this resentment could stem from the fact his mother died of the fever, making him go to extreme lengths in constructing this figure from different body parts to create a cre...
M.H. Abrams, et al; ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume I. W.W. Norton & Company, New York/London, 1993.
Despite Dylan Thomas’ often obscure images, he expresses a clear message of religious devotion in many of his poems. He creates images that reflect God’s connection with the earth and body. In “And death shall have no dominion,'; Thomas portrays the redemption of the soul in death, and the soul’s liberation into harmony with nature and God. Thomas best depicts his beliefs, though abstract and complicated, to the reader with the use of analogies and images of God’s presence in nature. Appreciating the virtue of humility in “Shall gods be said to thump the clouds,'; Thomas associates God with thunder, rainbows, and night only to remind us that He is even more present in a simple stone as He is in other great entities. In “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower,'; Thomas again makes the connection of body and earth, implying that there is only one holy force that has created all motion and life on this planet. This force, because it is so pure and boundless, is present in the shadows and poverty of our world, as depicted in “Light breaks where no sun shines.'; God’s sacred presence in the body and earth is the ultimate theme within these chosen poems.
Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993.
The title of the poem is an indication that the reader should prepare himself or herself for some sort of spiritual experience. Whittier uses the word "worship" to title his poem because by the end of the poem the reader will learn that there is much more to the natural world than water, land, and sky. The poem starts with the birth or creation of nature. Whittier explains to his readers that the natural world has existed since God created it. He compares the creation of nature to music. This stanza is very appealing to the senses because nature is musical. The insects, winds, and birds are all a part of this "song" that "has never died away". The poet reminds readers of this very important idea because we as humans have a tendency to forget the value and importance of nature. The second stanza takes readers beyond the initial creation and introduces readers to the many purposes that nature serves. Whittier explains that "prayer is made and praise is given." Personification is an important tool used in this poem. Obviously nature cannot really pray or give praise, but the various functions of nature in this world give the illusion that it does pay homage to a higher being. For instance the lines in the second stanza, "The ocean looketh up to heaven, /And mirrors every star" says that the ocean is a mirror for heaven. If we look into the deep sea, we are in essence looking into a reflected image of heaven. Other instances when Whittier uses personification in this way are the first and second lines in the third stanza, "Its waves are kneeling on the strand/As kneels the human knee". Whittier tells his readers that just as man bends his knee to show respect to God so the ocean waves bend when they reach the shore as a sign of respect.
Abrams, M. H., et al., The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1986.
“God’s Grandeur” is a poem that embraces the grace and glory of God in everything, and is certainly an example of his strong faith in God. Imagery is found from the very beginning of the poem. “The world is charged with the grandeur of God,” and “charged” here is very significant because it is a metaphor symbolizing the world being engulfed with God’s electricity (ll. 1). Electricity is a primary source for us as humans, which makes this an image of light associated with faith found in a single word in the first line alone. The second says that the electricity “will flame out, like shining from shook foil” (ll. 2). Line 2’s simile now connects with line 1’s metaphor as it further describes the metaphor. Moreover, if one has ever seen how light hits shook foil, then it becomes easy to understand the imagery because it glimmers so much. This enhances the relationship Hopkins establishes between images of light and his strong Christian faith.
For example, it sparked the idea, or memory of how much I love nature and the outdoors, and the great sense of peace it brings to me. In an instant, it showed me how far had drifted from that mind set. I think that this poem has the capability of bringing attention to viewers of how far away all of us have drifted from nature. I think of last week when I visited Sioux Falls for the first time, I was truly shocked as I looked around and saw a large number of people so focused on their various versions of technology that they didn’t see Gods beauty passing by. I think it this piece presents a challenging new idea that the simpler times are truly gone. I believe that it has become uncommon for people to seek out the sense of peace from nature that the author describes in this poem in today’s era. It is truly incredible to me how we can tread along in the mundaneness of life, and then suddenly an old thought is drug from the dark recesses of our minds and becomes new
The Norton Anthology: English Literature. Ninth Edition. Stephen Greenblatt, eds. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 460. Print.
In the first stanza, the poet seems to be offering a conventional romanticized view of Nature: