Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844-1889

"God's Grandeur", a masterpiece of Gerard Manley Hopkins is a sonnet in which he tells of God's magnificent presence in nature. I was immediately drawn to the writings of this author because of how he connects his work with God and incorporated God in his work. He was a man who struggled to maintain religious faith, as we all do, his respect for conventional verse forms , and his quest to find proof of God's work in nature all mark him as quintessentially Victorian. Of all his sonnets that I have read, I was very impressed with "God's Grandeur."

"The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shinning from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?" (page 774, lines 1-4)

The author begins with the metaphor of God's grandeur as an electric force as indicated by the word "charged." It was a world through which God's presence runs like an electric current becoming visible and occasionally flashes out in ways that are brilliant as the effect of shaken "shook foil" giving off broad glares. The author then spoke about God's presence as the "ooze of oil crushed." Here was an image of oil being pressed out , representing another kind of richness where build-up pressure eventually results in overflow. The poet then continues by saying, giving all these proofs of God's presence in the world, why do men fail to heed God's divine authority, "his rod." This reminds me of today's society. There are so many things showing proof of God's existence, the very reason we are alive and breathing at this moment, yet people in our society still insist that there is no God.

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." (page 775, lines 5-8)

In these lines the author then describes the state of human life and human labor in his time and what was expected in the future. Humans have neglected God which translates into our neglect of nature and the environment with "trade", suggesting building industries and our work, "toils." This reminds me of all the natural beauty and landscape being ruined when we clear the land to build our factories and industries. The author then uses the words "nor can foot feel, being shod," to suggest that the very shoes that we wear is an indication of our disconnection with nature.

"And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And through 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." (page 775, lines 9-14)

In the lines mentioned above, the author tells us that in spite of all that we have done, nature does not cease from offering up its grandeur. This renewal can be seen in the way morning always awaits after the night. "Spring" testifies of the continual renewing power of God's creation bringing new birth and newness of life. This reminds me of the creation story in which God made everything new from nothing. The author then finishes the sonnet telling us that this constant regeneration is the Holy Ghost, God, who guards the potential of this world just like a mother hen who broods over her chickens.