GMH

[truepenny]

Gerard Manley Hopkins is the good crack. He and John Donne were the two poets who made me want to be an English major back in high school.

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.

But ah, but O thou terrible, why wouldst thou rude on me
Thy wring-earth right foot rock? lay a lionlimb against me? scan
With darksome devouring eyes my bruisèd bones? and fan,
O in turns of tempest, me heaped there; me frantic to avoid thee and flee?

Why? That my chaff might fly; my grain lie, sheer and clear.
Nay in all that toil, that coil, since (seems) I kissed the rod,
Hand rather, my heart lo! lapped strength, stole joy, would laugh, cheer.

Cheer whóm though? The héro whose héaven-handling flúng me, fóot tród
Me? or mé that fóught him? O which one? is it eách one? That níght, that yéar
Of now done darkness I wretch lay wrestling with (my God!) my God.

Comments

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

*nodnod* Pied Beauty has been one of my favorite poems for a long time, even though I'm not Christian.

[splagxna.livejournal.com]

adore GMH, that poem specially. thanks for posting!

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I only love a few of his poems, but those I love greatly.

He always makes me think of Greer.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

I adore Hopkins. Thank you for that :)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

This is my favourite Hopkins; Hopkins is the poet I go back to more than any other. Except, um, Donne...

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

He was one of my early favorites, too. And I love that poem (well, all of them). Thanks.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you. That's been my favorite Hopkins poem for years, and it's been a long time since I last read it.

[stevethorn.livejournal.com]

Doh! Now I know how Dan Simmons got the name for his novel, Carrion Comfort. He tends to use a lot of references to poetry in his titles, just didn't know that one. Thanks!

[poshlil.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're reminding me of all the fun i had last year when i thought i wanted to do an English major. We had an excellent tutorial on that poem. I hope your classes are all working out as you hoped, and that the lesson plans don't cause too many headaches.

[lalouve.livejournal.com]

Hopkins and Donne are at least partly responsible for my being an English major. And now an English PhD...

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

Oh, Yes! Such extraordinary twistings of language that convey his feelings so precisely. He makes T S Eliot (whom I love - but not as much as GMH) seem like a dry pedant!

Windhover

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

And Hopkin's 'Windhover' is a brilliant description of a kestrel. Mind, I'm a birdwatcher, so I'm biased...