THE SONG OF CREATION
To Gerard
Manley Hopkins
Creation
sings of the glory of God.
We
do not hear it but see it
In
brilliant interstices
Opening
and closing
Of
trees waving to and fro
When
the world is radiant,
In
glittering leaves,
Beaming
stones,
Mountain
streams, flashing
Metal
foil flattened
By
fists, smoothed
By
hands.
The
blind hear the song in the trees yearning to speak.
They
inhale it in the attenuated wind,
Taste
it in fruits bursting with water.
Bending
down to touch the earth,
They
become one with the beginning of all things,
Pushing
roots into the soil,
Unfolding
leaves,
Joining
hands with the sun and the dead
Brought
back to life.
 |
| Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) |
“The Song of Creation” was originally published in Blue Heron Review, Issue 3 (Winter 2015).
ReplyDeletePhoto is in public domain.
Gonzalinho
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS AND GOD’S GRANDEUR
ReplyDeleteGod’s Grandeur is a finely crafted sonnet written in 1877, the year Hopkins was ordained as a Jesuit priest. It explores the relationship between God and the world of nature, how the divine is infused in things and refreshes, despite the efforts of humans to ruin the whole show.
With the industrial and commercial revolutions gathering pace in Britain and the West, unprecedented pressures were being placed on the environment. Hopkins, a sensitive and observant poet above all else, expressed his dismay at this free-for-all by writing sonnets of extraordinary texture and depth.
God’s Grandeur is a tour de force, tight-knit yet organic in rhythm and internal rhyme. Hopkins was a fastidious and serious poet, working his lines again and again to achieve the desired effect.
Link: https://letterpile.com/poetry/Analysis-of-Poem-Gods-Grandeur-by-Gerard-Manley-Hopkins
Gonzalinho