Gerard Manley Hopkins

Gerard Manley Hopkins Poems

Gerard Manley Hopkins is one of the most important poets of the Victorian era. He also worked as a Jesuit priest and is remembered for his innovative and interesting verse. His work was not as well-regarded during his life as it is now. Today, he’s credited with inspiring poets like T.S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas. 

The Windhover

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

‘The Windhover’ is an incredibly important poem that Hopkins considered to be his best. It uses symbolism to speak about God and faith.

'The Windhover' is commonly considered to be one of, if not the, best examples of poetry Hopkins produced in his lifetime. The poem is incredibly influential and has been used as a source of inspiration by countless poets. Hopkins' verse is impactful, highly relatable, and interesting.

I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-

dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding

Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding

Heaven-Haven: A Nun Takes the Veil

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

IN ‘Heaven-Haven: A Nun Takes the Veil’ the speaker yearns for a tranquil sanctuary, free from life’s storms, desiring a realm of eternal springs and serene beauty.

This poem is a good representation of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poems. It showcases his unique style characterized by vivid imagery, intricate language, and exploration of spiritual themes. The poem reflects Hopkins' ability to capture intense emotions and longing for transcendence. Its lyrical quality and introspective nature align with the distinctiveness found in many of Hopkins' other works, making it a fitting example of his poetic style and themes.

I have desired to go

Where springs not fail,

To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail

And a few lilies blow.

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;

As tumbled over rim in roundy wells

Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;

Carrion Comfort

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Not, I'll not, carrion comfort, Despair, not feast on thee;

Not untwist—slack they may be—these last strands of man

In me ór, most weary, cry I can no more. I can;

Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be.

Felix Randal

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

‘Felix Randal’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins is Petrarchan sonnet written as an elegy for a farrier by the name of Felix Randal. 

Felix Randal the farrier, O is he dead then? my duty all ended,

Who have watched his mould of man, big-boned and hardy-handsome

Pining, pining, till time when reason rambled in it, and some

Fatal four disorders, fleshed there, all contended?

Hope holds to Christ

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

‘Hope holds to Christ’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins is a poem about faith and hope. The speaker spends the lines personifying hope and relating “her” to Christ. 

Hope holds to Christ the mind’s own mirror out

To take His lovely likeness more and more.

It will not well, so she would bring about

An ever brighter burnish than before

Explore more poems from Gerard Manley Hopkins

I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

‘I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins tells of a speaker’s suffering as he tries to understand the role of God in his life.

I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day.

What hours, O what black hours we have spent

This night! what sights you, heart, saw; ways you went!

And more must, in yet longer light's delay.

Inversnaid

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

This darksome burn, horseback brown,

His rollrock highroad roaring down,

In coop and in comb the fleece of his foam

Flutes and low to the lake falls home.

My own heart let me more have pity on

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

‘My own heart let me more have pity on’ contains the thoughts of a speaker who is seeking a way out of his depressed mental state. 

My own heart let me more have pity on; let

Me live to my sad self hereafter kind,

Charitable; not live this tormented mind

With this tormented mind tormenting yet.

No worst, there is none

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

‘No worst, there is none’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins describes the nature of a speaker’s depression and its highs and lows. 

No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief,

More pangs will, schooled at forepangs, wilder wring.

Comforter, where, where is your comforting?

Mary, mother of us, where is your relief?

Pied Beauty

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things—

   For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

       For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;

Spring and Fall

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

‘Spring and Fall’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins uses a unique rhyme scheme and the concept of nature’s demise as a representation of something much deeper.

Márgarét, áre you gríeving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Leáves like the things of man, you

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Spring

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –

   When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;

   Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush

Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring

The Caged Skylark

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

As a dare-gale skylark scanted in a dull cage,

    Man's mounting spirit in his bone-house, mean house, dwells —

    That bird beyond the remembering his free fells;

This in drudgery, day-labouring-out life's age.

The Starlight Night

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Look at the stars! look, look up at the skies!

O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!

The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels there!

Down in dim woods the diamond delves! the elves'-eyes!

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