Gerard Manley Hopkins

Gerard Manley Hopkins was a man that tried in his attempts but always seemed to have some obstacle; at least in his priesthood. He seemed to try his best at priesthood but never felt he could obtain the serenity he needed to fulfill his position. His bouts with erotic notions and poetry did not help in his pursuit of becoming a Jesuit priest.

“Oh morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! Bright wings." (p. 775)

As the reader can see, Hopkins writes with noticeable polarity between ideas. He speaks of God and the hints of erotic thought in the same sentence. His fight with these issues seems to guide him in many different directions. But it is the sad fact that certain thoughts and his love of poetry kept him from fulfilling the position in society that he wanted to have. While reading him you can see the imagery that he puts into his writing.

“It will flame out, like shining from shook foil:” (p. 774)

The words and the way he chooses to put them into sentences gives detailed images of his writing to the readers. Everyone has seen the lines and reflections that foil puts off if even only slightly crinkled. It is this simple imagery that brings the reader into his poems and makes us feel as if we could have written it. Sometimes writers try to make their poetry so hard to understand or write in such obscure ways that the reader may never know what they are trying to say. This may be for certain purposes, but to not allow your audience to understand what you are writing about and how it should be applied to the greater good doesn’t seem very effective.

Hopkins style of poetry is very exciting to me. It is unconventional and far away the norm at which I seem to hop from one line to the other without much thought. He incorporates a lot of techniques that keep the reader “in” his poetry and help to understand his meanings.