GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS "GOD'S GRANDEUR" (1877) Gods Grandeur Summary "Gods Grandeur" starts off with a claim:

: the earth is full Gods special power, Gods vitality. But the earth is ultimately temporary. The fire will go from it one day. It will reach a peak, then slowly spread, and then collapse. (This is confusing dont try to take Hopkins too literally. Let your imagination feel and see the images he presents). The speaker states that the natural world is inseparable from God, but at the same time temporary. The speaker wants to know why dont people don't take better care of the natural world. Why dont they recognize and respect the power of God that is running through our environment? He says that people have been endlessly tromping and trudging through the world for so long, and now the surface of the earth is calloused and burnt over by industry. It looks blurry and out of focus with all this industry, and endless hard work covering it. According to the speaker, we humans stunk up the earth everything looks and smells like people, and all the bad things people do. (The speaker doesnt sound too keen on people here.) The ground we walk on doesnt have any flowers or trees or grass on it. And we have to wear shoes, so we can no longer feel the ground itself. We have lost our connection with the natural world. But dont worry the speaker assures us nature never stops. Its hiding underground, like a hidden spring. And even though the sun always sets in the west bringing darkness and night, it always rises again in the east, bringing light and morning. The speaker assures us that morning follows night, and light follows darkness, because the Holy Ghost is always hovering over the messed up world, pondering deeply, and worried. The upside, though, is that the Holy Ghost watches over the world and treats it in much the same way a bird would treat her unhatched eggs, providing comfort, security, warmth, beauty, and motion. The title tells us what the poem plans to do: illustrate the speakers vision of a quality of God, namely "grandeur." Grandeur is the quality of being "grand," which means "big," "fancy," "wonderful," or "splendid." The seeming simplicity of the title does suggest that the poet isnt interested in "selling" the poem, or giving it a snappy title to try to lure people into reading it. Nope. We have a simple statement of the focus of the poem. Enter if you wish.

Gods Grandeur Theme of Man and the Natural World The speaker in "Gods Grandeur" looks deeply at the natural world, and doesnt hold back his or her contempt for the ways in which people and their industries have treated nature. Yet, Hopkins claims that the consequences of this treatment is only on the surface. This poem explores the idea of renewal, both for a damaged earth, and for the damaged people who walk upon it.

Gods Grandeur Theme of Life, Consciousness, and Existence Among other things, "Gods Grandeur" proposes that the meaning of life and the purpose of human existence can be discovered through nature. As an expression both of intense anxiety and of intense joy, this poem can seem to be on the serious side. But all the language play within the poem lightens the tone, and can give us a different perspective on life, whether we agree with the poems ideas or not. Gods Grandeur Theme of Religion You can tell from the title that "Gods Grandeur" is probably a religious poem. The speaker is telling us about his or her religious visions. The speaker sees God as intimately connected to the earth. The exotic language of the poem moves us through this fascinating religious journey. Gods Grandeur Theme of Transformation In the world of "Gods Grandeur" everything is shifting and changing and moving. For better or worse, the potential for change runs through Gerard Manley Hopkinss verse. The speakers vision is at once apocalyptic and full of bursting green life, as he or she both laments change and yearns for it.

Gods Grandeur Man and the Natural World Quotes How we cite the quotes: (line) [] like shining from shook foil (2) Hopkins tells is he had lightening in mind when he wrote this line. If you shake an ordinary piece of tinfoil, you can see what he may have envisioned. We see a flash of fire, but only a flash. The lines addresses things, which are beautiful, but temporary.

[]ooze of oil [] Crushed. (3-4) The alliterations here sound rich and luxurious, like a massage. Perfume is made from oil. A variety of substances are "crushed" to release their fragrance as oil. Oil is also used in religious ceremonies. Yet, if we take too much oil, we have environmental problem, leaving the earth crushed.

And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; (6) The poet only describes the surface of the world as being polluted. If something is charred, its burned all the way through to the core. If something is seared, only the surface is burned. That something is seared, is painful but not fatal. Also in this quotation we see the word, "bleared." Bleared is similar to "blurred." Its how something looks, not how it is. Again, Hopkins seems to be making the claim that If we stop abusing the earth, the smears will go away.

And for all this, nature is never spent. (9)

Spent is an interesting word choice. It makes us think of "trade" and money. The line means nature cant run out, but also perhaps that it cant be bought no amount of money can completely destroy it. It is this line that gives us a glimmer of hope about the state of the natural world.

[]dearest freshness deep down things [] (10) Yep, as we said, the damage is only on the surface of things, underneath all is fresh and sweet, but buried and hidden away.

[] last lights off the black West went (11) This is a fancy way of saying that the sun set in the west, and then the sky become dark. To the speaker of this poem, this natural phenomenon is no small miracle. The "morning" that follows it is an even bigger miracle. In spite of all the doom and gloom of life, the light just keeps on following the darkness. This could serve as a metaphor for human treatment of the earth. After a period of darkness and damage, there can still be lightness and healing.

Gods Grandeur Life, Consciousness, and Existence Quotes How we cite the quotes: (line) THE world is charged with the grandeur of God. (1) The speaker of the poem argues clearly at the very beginning that life, consciousness, and existence are connected to God. But we should not view this poem as an argument for that perspective, because this early claim is assumed to be a given. [] have trod, have trod, have trod; (5) Is this what modern life is all about? Just trudging through, tromping things down, worn out? The repetition evokes a vision of people with broken spirits who are not living, but merely existing. The poem suggests that by working so hard, we lose sight of what really matters in life. And according to the speaker, what matters is the natural world. [] nor can foot feel, being shod. (8) Again, you call this existence? Let the grass grow, take off your shoes and jump around in it. It doesnt have to be this hard. Hopkins laments that existence has been lessened by our losing contact with nature. []the bent World [](13-14) The alienation the speaker expresses overtly in the first stanza, is carried out here, even in what is obviously meant to be a hopeful and uplifting passage. Everything is still "smeared" and "bleared" everything is still "bent." Nothing has changed yet. These lines speak of the potential for a better existence.

Gods Grandeur Religion Quotes How we cite the quotes: (line) The world is charged with the grandeur of God. (1) "Charged" is a versatile word charged with a crime, charged money, charged batteries. It can also imply being responsible for the care of someone or something. You can plug these in and see what happens. Some work better than others, depending on individual views about religion, and the divine. As the poem progresses, we learn that the speaker closely connects the grandeur of God to the natural world for the speaker. Why do men then now not reck his rod? (4) This line is often interpreted as "why dont people heed Gods authority?" It seems to be deeper than that. We know that "reck" also means "care for," and that "rod" is sometimes used to mean "tribe," in the Bible. You can fully explore all the words definitions and come up with a very complicated argument. Heres our interpretation: "Why dont people take care of that which has Gods force running through it?" [] last lights off the black West went Oh, morning! (11-12) These two lines remind us of the title of a famous work by St. John of the Cross, a Roman Catholic mystic, and a poet. Its called The Dark Night of the Soul. Its about the struggle to find light in the darkness of existence. Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings. (13-14) The dove has long been a symbol of the Holy Ghost, as well as a symbol of peace. In a way this is a comforting idea. The poet says that the reason the sun still rises and sets is because we have not been abandoned. The "ah!" implies a deep satisfaction with this idea. Like the first line of the poem, the last line speaks directly about religion. Gods Grandeur Transformation Quotes How we cite the quotes: (line) []flame[]. (2) Fire is usually a symbol of transformation. Think "trial by fire." One goes through difficulty to become something new. Much of art is driven by an artists desire to grow, though transformation doesnt always mean growth, as we see in the poem. [] shares man's smell [] (7) We cringe a tiny bit here. We arent stinky, but we get the point. The purest perfume is bad if too

much used. The earth has been transformed. People too. The speaker sounds downright cranky about it here, but transforms to a lighter mood, thick with the possibility of rejuvenation and renovation. []the soil [] (7) This poem shows two sides of the soil, and by extension two sides of nature. The soil on the surface of the earth is lonely and sad, with no plants growing in it. Its been transformed by what people have done with it. But, the soil under the earth is just as fertile as ever, ready to counteract this transformation by urging another. And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs (11-12) These lines describe night transforming into day. They might also be a metaphor for the human heart, or the speakers heart, moving from the confusion of darkness, to the light of clarity.