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Hopkins was a Jesuit priest with a profoundly mystical nature. Nevertheless, despite following the rules
of religion to the letter, he found himself in a state of deep spiritual depression -- what is sometimes
known as the "dark night of the soul".
Essentially, he felt that, despite all his fervent attempts to serve his Lord, God was not responding with
any perceivable blessing. On the other hand, those people whom he regarded as sinners appeared to
lead very fruitful lives indeed.
THE POET & HIS POEM
This sonnet is based upon the following extract from the scriptures:
"You are righteous, O LORD,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?"
(Jeremiah 12:1)
Gerrard Manley Hopkins was born in 1844, the first of nine children. His parents were staunch Anglicans.
He attended a grammar school in Highgate and then continued to Oxford University. His search for
religion, however, caused him to fall under the influence of the great Catholic convert, John Henry
Newman. As a result, Hopkins became a Catholic in 1866 and then joined the Society of Jesus or Jesuits
the following year.
Initially Hopkins burned all his early poetry because he believed it was a symbol of ambition. Luckily, he
later changed his mind, being influenced by the writings of the medieval scholar Duns Scotus who saw
art as a reflection of God within the world.
From this concept, Hopkins developed his philosophy of "Inscape" and "Instress".
"Inscape" is the underlying form that marks the essence of all things, the God-principle which exists
in everything.
"Instress", on the other hand, is our personal ability to experience that God-principle.
Everything has "Inscape". In other words, everything has a God-principle. Trees, flowers, sunsets,
people and animals: each has its own "Inscape".
However, not everyone has "Instress". The person who watches the glory of the setting sun but
is reminded of a poached egg clearly lacks "Instress".
The poet studied Theology in Wales, which is probably where he picked up the Welsh lyrical way of
speaking and writing. He would translate this lyrical metre into his poetry in what he called "Sprung
Rhythm".
Hopkins was ordained a priest in 1877 and then worked as a curate in Sheffield, Oxford and London
before moving on to become parish priest in slum parishes in Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. None
of this, however, was intellectually suitable for a man who had such a brilliant mind.
Eventually he became a professor of Latin and Greek, first at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire and then
at the University College in Dublin. His frustration, however, at having to mark a plethora of mediocre
scripts sent him spiralling into a state of deep depression from which he would not emerge.
He died of typhoid fever in 1889. He was then only 44 years of age.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
VOCABULARY:
Explain the meaning of each of the following words:
- SOTS AND THRALLS OF LUST;
[Need help?]
- PLEAD: to address the court on behalf of someone; to make an appeal;
- ENDEAVOUR: to strive to do something;
- THWART: to frustrate, foil or prevent something from happening;
- SOTS AND THRALLS OF LUST: drunkards and sinful men;
- BANKS AND BRAKES: the undergrowth;
- LEAVED: to be full of leaves;
- FRETTY CHERVIL: the herbs and plants which cause crisscross patterns, either with their stems and
leaves or by their shadows;
- EUNUCH: either a castrated male or, in this case, a metaphorically impotent person.
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"Justus quidem tu es, Domine, si disputem tecum:
verumtamen justa loquar ad te: Quare via impiorum prosperatur? &c."
- Why do you think this sonnet begins with a Latin verse? (2)
[Need help?]
Hopkins was a Jesuit priest back in the days when Catholic priests would have read the Bible in the Latin
version. He was reading Jeremiah, 12:1-3 and meditating its meaning. This meditation then became the
inspiration for this sonnet.
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"THOU art indeed just, Lord, if I contend
With thee; but, sir, so what I plead is just.
Why do sinners' ways prosper? and why must
Disappointment all I endeavour end?"
- Why does the poet address God as "sir"? (2)
[Need help?]
Hopkins sees God as his Lord and yet also as his father. Note that the word "Sir" would have been
used in Hopkins' day as the correct form of address for one's physical father.
Imagine asking your father, "Did you have a good day, sir?"
We therefore have here an attitude of respect and of love. At the same time, however, the poet is
concerned that, despite all his personal devotion to doing the Lord's work, God appears to treat sinners
better than He does the poet.
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- What does the poet mean when he says that what he pleads "is just"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet sees God as a friend with whom he can discuss issues -- and even argue. He begins by stating
that what God does is good and has a purpose. At the same time, he says, what he (the poet) has to say
is also good and has a purpose. His argument is therefore also "just".
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- What is it that God is doing that the poet feels is not quite fair? (4)
[Need help?]
Hopkins faced a problem which confronted many deeply spiritual people: that, no matter how much they
dedicate their lives to God, it seems to be never quite enough. Somehow the poet expects to feel the
blessings which God promised but instead he believes that sinners are much more rewarded than he.
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"Wert thou my enemy, O thou my friend,
How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost
Defeat, thwart me? Oh, the sots and thralls of lust
Do in spare hours more thrive than I that spend,
Sir, life upon thy cause."
- Rewrite the following in your own words so that the meaning becomes clear: "How wouldst thou
worse, I wonder, than thou dost | Defeat, thwart me?" (2)
[Need help?]
The poet asks whether it is possible for God to frustrate him (the poet) any more than is happening at the
moment.
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- What is meant by "the sots and thralls of lust"? (2)
[Need help?]
Hopkins shows concern that those people who are dedicated to sensual pleasure should be thriving and
appear to be blessed whereas he who lives a life of austerity and dedication to God's work does not
appear to be blessed.
The "sots and thralls of lust" therefore applies to anything that pertains to sensual pleasure, like
drunkenness or people who seek sexual pleasure, etc.
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"See, banks and brakes
Now leaved how thick! laced they are again
With fretty chervil, look, and fresh wind shakes
Them; birds build but not I build; no, but strain,
Time's eunuch, and not breed one work that wakes.
Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain."
- There is a major change in the theme of the sestet. What is this new theme? (2)
[Need help?]
Whereas the OCTAVE deals with sinners and how they prosper, the SESTET compares the poet's life
with that of plants and birds.
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- What literally is a "eunuch"? (2)
[Need help?]
A eunuch literally is a male who has been castrated.
Castration was something done to males for various reasons. A young boy who had a perfect singing
voice would be castrated so that he would not go through puberty and lose his perfect voice.
Strong males who were used to guard harems of women were castrated so that they wouldn't have a
sexual drive for those very women they were guarding.
In Anthony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra's body-guard was such a "castratio" or castrated
person. Male opera singers were also "castratio".
The thing about eunuchs is that they no longer have a sexual drive . They are sexually impotent.
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- What does the poet mean when he refers to himself as "Time's eunuch"? (4)
[Need help?]
A local study-guide says that Hopkins was a eunuch because he was a Catholic priest. I don't think so!
Catholic priests may take a vow of celibacy, but the Church does not castrate them!
The poet is using the term "eunuch" in a metaphorical sense. Just as eunuchs are sexually
impotent -- i.e. they cannot produce children -- so the poet is mentally impotent because he cannot
produce ideas that have any effect on people.
Indeed, the poet is probably at odds with his own parishioners who just cannot understand his intellectual
sermons and therefore reject all his ideas!
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"Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain."
- Comment on these words as a climax for this sestet. (4)
[Need help?]
The poet has been dealing with the blessings that God pours onto the plants, mainly by way of rain.
Hopkins compares himself to these plants which are nourished by the rain and the fertile soil.
Having stated that he is a metaphorical eunuch who can produce no good ideas, Hopkins calls upon God
to send rain to his metaphorical roots so that his ideas will indeed take root and grow.
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