Gerald Manley Hopkins (1884-1889)

There was a time Hopkins featured on school lIterature syllabi. He may still do. He was often the first shocked encounter students had with a poet who was ‘difficult’. Generations floundered attempting to write something intelligent about something they found incomprehensible.

They could of course get technical and try reading about ’sprung rhythm’, though that may have left them even more confused than before. They could delve into the biography and consider how Hopkins’ spirituality affected the poems. Either way they were moving further away from the object they were supposed to be considering.

I think it’s better to wander through his poems, looking for ones that catch your attention. Rereading them allows you to tune into others. This does not mean you’ll soon be reading ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’ and enjoying the experience, but it will allow you to enjoy some of his poems.

‘Pied Beauty’ celebrates the glorious multiplicity of creation. What is there to not understand?

This is taken from the Folio Society’s beautiful Selected poetry and Prose of Gerald Manley Hopkins. .