Rhyme & Reason

In this season, we’ve talked about the beauty of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ work, but he is also known for poems that plumb the depths of the human experience as well as its heights. Hopkins suffered from several chronic maladies, and there is a darker streak that runs through many of his poems, especially in those written toward the end of his short life when his own suffering and misery had reached a crescendo.

"The Caged...

When Gerard Manley Hopkins became a Jesuit in 1868, he burned his poetry and swore off making any more. Then followed nearly a decade of poetic silence, in which he wrote little to no poetry. That is, until a ship called the Deutschland ran aground off the coast of England. Hopkins was so affected by the tragedy, especially the death of five Franciscan nuns, that a poem came pouring out of him in 35 eight-line stanzas.

"The Wreck o...

One of his most important and beloved poems, "As Kingfishers Catch Fire" is a glimpse into Gerard Manley Hopkins' philosophy of life, his way of seeing the world. Central to his approach to poetry, spirituality, and life were concepts he often refers to in his writing—inscape, a thing's "thingness" or an interior landscape, and instress, needle-sharp and deep attention to detail given to understand the essence of a thing.

Wit...

Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry can be confusing at first glance, and he faced consistent criticism for his style of poetry the world just wasn't ready for at the time. His friend and posthumous editor Robert Bridges even wrote an essay called "The Oddities of Genius" about how puzzling Hopkins' work can be.

His poem "Inversnaid" is a prime example. As Hopkins contemplates a small stream by the name Inversnaid, he makes use of wonder...

Gerard Manley Hopkins' known works consist of 49 poems, none of which were published in his short life of 44 years. In 1918, 30 years after Hopkins' death, his friend and then poet laureate of England Robert Bridges published a collection of Hopkins' works, but not until Bridges re-released it in 1930 did Hopkins' poetry finally gain notoriety.

In "The Lantern Out of Doors," Hopkins meditates on friendship—on our interest in ...

19th-century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was a man before his time, especially in regard to his literary work. His contemporaries and even his close friends called him odd. Manley even had serious doubts about whether he should spend time writing poetry, as he considered it a potential distraction from his work as a Jesuit priest.

His poem "God's Grandeur" is a sonnet that contemplates the beauty of creation. Though God's world is m...