The Sunday Night Poem - Gerald Manley Hopkins

Since I'm going to be busy tomorrow night celebrating Christmas I thought I'd share this poem with you a day early. It was written by a five foot two manic-depressive (putative), intellectually brilliant, Oxford educated Jesuit priest who died of typhoid fever at the age of 44.

If you haven't had the chance yet, meet Father Gerald Manley Hopkins. His Wikipedia entry is a perfect introduction to his body of work. One of the amazing facts of his life is that his poetry was published in 1918 - 29 years after his death. Hopkins is considered one of the greatest poets of the Victorian age, and a writer of stunning imagery and radically new versification - all in the name of faith and love. His poems are difficult to interpret, yet whether one understands the meaning behind his dense language or not, his verse leaves a lasting impression on the reader. I first read "The Windhover" almost 30 years ago and I still fly off cliffs into the morning wind and sun everytime I read this piece of piety and beauty. Please enjoy it, and Happy Holidays to all...

The Windhover

To Christ our Lord

I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,--the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.

Rather thick, isn't it? Now click below to read an interpretation:

An Interpretation of "The Windhover", by Professor George Landow of Brown University

The Windhover
Gerard Manley Hopkins

To Christ our Lord
(Note that this dedication to Christ address Him directly and makes him part of the poem)

I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
This morning I caught [sight of] the minion or servant of the morning, [who is] the dauphin, or crown-prince,
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
of the Kingdom of Daylight----a falcon spotted or dappled by the dawn as he was riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
the steady air over the rolling hills or land and as he was striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
high up in the sky. How in his ectasy he halted with his wings as if he were pulling back on a horse's reins,
In his ecstacy! then off, off forth on swing.
Then, he would launch himself again [as a child] on a swing.
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on bow-bend: the hurl and the gliding
[In the same way that] a skater's heel smoothly sweeps around a curve [when skating figures], the
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
bird's hurling itself against the wind and then gliding with it, rebuffed and conquered that powerful natural
Stirred for a bird,--the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!
force. My heart, which had been in hiding (from WHAT?), stirred itself--became excited for the bird's achievement and power, for its mastery of natural forces.

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Then, at this point, all the bird's brute, animal beauty, courage, and --oh!-- his proud air and feathers
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
buckle or crumple! And the fire (the bright red of the bird's chest feathers as well as higher beauty)
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
is a billion times lovely and more dangeorus [that the earlier mastery of natural forces that the hawk had shown in his gliding, oh my chevalier (knight).

No wonder of it: sheer plod makes plough down sillion
The fact that [the beauty of falling, danger, and descent is greater than the beauty of power] should not surprise us, because nature abounds with other instances of this higher principle: (1) simple plodding work of the ploughman makes the plough shine from its polishing against the cut earth and also makes the sillion, cut
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear
earth, shine, and [similarly] (2) bleak-looking embers [in a stove or fireplace], ah my dear [Christ],
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.
when they fall and hurt themselves also break open and the gashes reveal the beauty of red and gold.

written: 1877
published: 1918