God's Grandeur
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; Bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
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.
Speaker:
The speaker here is indistinct, though it seems to be Hopkins, himself.
Speaker's feelings:
The first three lines of the sonnet have an admiring, marvelling sort of tone to them; however, Hopkins switches to a depressing sort of feeling in the next five lines. He feels that all the grandeur of God that nature displays has been trampled on and ruined by men. He seems to feel that man's industriousness separates him from nature and God.
The last six lines contain hope, comfort, and refreshment. Hopkins feels that despite the way humans continually "smudge" and "blear" and "smear" everything up, God (specifically, the Holy Spirit) is still watching and preserving everything in our "bent World."
Setting:
The whole world is this poem's stage. "God's Grandeur" specifically speaks of nature, man's imprints and soil. The poem also deals with the cosmic realm of life, giving us a unique perspective on the world; the last two lines call the reader to look from above to see "the Holy Ghost over the bent world."
Hopkins sets a broad timeframe. It can perhaps be broken downs like this:
1) It begins with the beginning of creation - in which the world was perfectly "charged with the grandeur of God"
2) It traces through all of history - "generations have trod..."
3) to the present - "all is seared with trade"
4) and looks to the future - "it will flame out" and "for all this, nature is never spent".
Meaning of the poem with textual evidence:
"God's Grandeur" is packed with Biblical imagery. According to Skylar Burris, images include the Creation, the Fall, Christ's Suffering, Man's Rebellion, and the quiet presence of the Holy Spirit. See if you can find them before you read what's next. Also, it helps to think of the poem both literally and spiritually.
Creation is subtly evident in the first lines of the sonnet. The word "charged" reminds us of light, which was created first according to Genesis.
The shook foil is probably gold foil, and this image can refer back to the Light of God that men follow. Hopkins, himself, explained that this image of "shook foil" is the central theme, and the rest of the poem expands on it. The ooze of oil refers not to petroleum, but to olive oil. Olive oil was used in sacred anointings and sacrifices in the Bible. Both the foil's flame and the olive's oil are believed to refer to the Holy Spirit.
The single word "Crushed" is said to refer very indirectly to the Son, Jesus. Instead of using "pressed" to refer to olive oil, Hopkins used "crushed" perhaps to stir up images of Christ's body and His suffering on the cross.
The next lines are reminiscent of the fall into sin (by Adam and Eve) and humankind's rebelliousness toward God. "Reck his rod" means to follow his law. Hopkins ponders, "Why don't men follow God? Why do they disobey his law?" Hopkins looks back through history at the dreary destruction people have marked the earth with: "all is seared with trade." Hopkins inner rhyme schemes between seared and bleared and smeared call attention to this destruction.
"The soil is bare now" describes the way humans have abused the earth and robbed it of its richness in the name of Progress. The shod feet (shod feet means shoes) reveal how we are disconnected with the earth. We can't even feel it any more with our own skin. This condition can also refer to our spiritual state of emptiness and separation from God.
BUT - "for all this, nature is never spent;" The "deep down" things include new, fresh life in nature - and new life spiritually. This spiritual renewal can even overcome "the black West," which our text tells us is an allusion to the splitting of the Church by King Henry VIII. Despite this darkness and destruction, morning still breaks and the Holy Spirit still "broods" over our poor bent world.
Confusing Parts:
The references to shook foil and oil seem really obscure to the reader at first! Hopkins explains it like this:
"I mean foil in its sense of leaf or tinsel...Shaken goldfoil gives off braod glares like sheet lightning...and a sort of fork lightning too." So...the foil can be seen as producing sudden light and electricity.
The oil is olive oil. According to our text, "The grandeur of God will rise and be [made evident] as oil rises and collects from crushed olives..." This gives us the idea of more of a steady glow. Both the suddenness and the steadiness can refer to the type of energy the Holy Spirit uses with humans.
"Reck his rod" means, again, to follow His commands. Rod refers to a measuring stick, and is another way of looking at the commandments.
Line 11 (And though the last lights off the black West went) alludes to King Henry VIII breaking ties with the Roman Catholic Church. Since Hopkins was a Jesuit priest, it makes sense that he would see this as a black moment in spiritual history.
Powerful Lines:
The repetition of "have trod, have trod, have trod" really drives home the weariness of humans and slow desecration of the earth.
"And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;" specifically shows how industry and progress leave their marks on everything.
"dearest, freshness deep down things" invokes the reader to be very introspective and/or to look closely for those "deep down things."
The image of the Holy Ghost both brooding (caring for, comforting) with warm breast evokes a peaceful calm in the last line. The ! in ah! bright wings reminds the reader that the Holy Ghost is also dynamic and can take action quickly - maybe even surprising us.
The verbs are spectacular: charged, flame, ooze, crushed, seared, springs, broods, etc.
The Windhover
To Christ our Lord
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
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, - the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.
Speaker:
Gerard Manley Hopkins (the author) is speaking in this poem. He wrote this poem for “Christ our Lord,” but he’s not necessarily speaking to him alone.
Speakers’ feelings:
Nathan A. Cervo describes the authors feelings in a review he wrote on the poem called
Setting:
“I caught this morning” and “dapple-dawn-drawn” are descriptions the author uses in the first and second lines to describe the setting. It’s obvious to see from these descriptions that the poem takes place at the dawn hours of the morning, and most likely outdoors.
Meaning of the poem with textual support/ evidence:
He goes on to compare the bird riding in the air to the experience of riding a horse. In another review, Herbert Marshall McLuhan says “the kingdom of daylight’s dauphin” and the “windhover” literally mirror Christ, and the words “valour,” “plume,” “minion,” and “buckle” evoke the world of dedicated knighthood (dedication to Christ) and pride. The moment is filled with control, honor, concentration- and pride, when suddenly the bird takes off again (buckle!). McLuhan suggests that this parallels the definition of buckling, which is when a knight prepares his armor for action. Moments ago, the bird was peacefully floating in the sky- then suddenly there’s a change as it prepares for battle (rebuffed the big wind). It is in that moment that
The last six lines are more in depth on the movement of the bird and drawing parallels to
The poem ends by saying the experience is nothing spectacular (No wonder of it). It’s an everyday thing. Working hard to let your inner light shine is part of being human.
Powerful images:
Imagery was the backbone to this poem. The most powerful images, the ones that stuck out most were the chevalier (...a billion Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!), and the windhover itself. He describes the bird as if it's royalty and flawless by saying, "...daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding." and "As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding Stirred for a bird, - the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!" These lines nearly paint a picture of what's going on, the images the reader gets helps them to understand and see Hopkins's symbolism."
Confusion:
This poem is confusing for a lot of people, especially those who are not Christian. If someone doesn’t know much about Christianity, chances are they won’t understand this poem because that is what this poem is based on, a spiritual experience and comparison to god. The other thing that often confuses people is how the first eight lines are told in past tense, then the next six suddenly switch to the present, people often seem to get lost there. The trick to understanding the poem is to do it open-mindedly and with patience.
Other Enjoyable Links:
http://www.gerardmanleyhopkins.net/demo/index.html: Gerard in song! Check it out.
Works Cited:
Burris, Skylar. "Biblical Imagery in Gerard Manley Hopkins's 'God's Grandeur'." 1999. 09 May
2007 http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hopkins/burris1.html
Cervo, Nathan A. "Hopkins." Explicator Volume 59. Issue 4(2001) 189.
05 May 2007 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=5275042&site=ehost-live.
McLuhan, Herbert Marshall. "THE ANALOGICAL MIRRORS." Kenyon Review Volume 11. Issue 1(1989) 208.
05 May 2007 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=7111900&site=ehost-live.
Villeponteaux, Elizabeth. "Flashing foil and oozing oil: Trinitarian images in the first quatrain of 'God's Grandeur'." Victorian Poetry Volume 40. Issue 2
(2002) 201. West Virginia University Press, University of West Virginia. Infotrac. 05 May 2007.