Pied Beauty - Gerard Manley Hopkins (Analysis)
In this essay, I am going to explore and analyze how Gerard Manley Hopkins marries the two themes of religion and nature together in his poem, “Pied Beauty”, and how these ideas are presented in terms of language, form, and structure.
Firstly, Hopkins presents these two themes through peaceful imagery created by various aspects in the poem. For example, this is evident in “Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow and plough”. The word choices in this line, include “plotted”, “pieced” and “plough”, which all fall into the semantic field of agricultural work. Agriculture involves man’s interaction with land, which is not violent nor is it intrusive, but it is to shape and cultivate it. This can be seen as man himself performing God’s work, suggesting no distinct divide. This promotes the idea of man, nature and God as one entity. This point would be relevant in terms of historical context as during the Victorian Era, different social classes can be distinguished by inequalities in such areas as power, authority, and wealth. Hopkins could be writing “Pied Beauty” with the intent to bring awareness to equal opportunities and parity within society, using the link between nature and religion as a catalyst to eliminate social divides. Furthermore, the words “plotted” and “pieced” suggest the careful and intricate design of God’s creation, implying that the variegated beauty of the world was his intent.
Another example of this can be seen in “For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim”. The use of compound words such as “rose-moles” is implemented throughout the poem, suggesting acts of creation. Hopkins is therefore inspired by God to recreate his variegated creation. Since the Victorian Era was described as the “Romantic Period”, where it began as an age of literature, art, music and culture. He uses the idea of God as a creator and is also externally influenced by the romanticism in art culture as well. This can be supported in the use of the word
Firstly, Hopkins presents these two themes through peaceful imagery created by various aspects in the poem. For example, this is evident in “Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow and plough”. The word choices in this line, include “plotted”, “pieced” and “plough”, which all fall into the semantic field of agricultural work. Agriculture involves man’s interaction with land, which is not violent nor is it intrusive, but it is to shape and cultivate it. This can be seen as man himself performing God’s work, suggesting no distinct divide. This promotes the idea of man, nature and God as one entity. This point would be relevant in terms of historical context as during the Victorian Era, different social classes can be distinguished by inequalities in such areas as power, authority, and wealth. Hopkins could be writing “Pied Beauty” with the intent to bring awareness to equal opportunities and parity within society, using the link between nature and religion as a catalyst to eliminate social divides. Furthermore, the words “plotted” and “pieced” suggest the careful and intricate design of God’s creation, implying that the variegated beauty of the world was his intent.
Another example of this can be seen in “For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim”. The use of compound words such as “rose-moles” is implemented throughout the poem, suggesting acts of creation. Hopkins is therefore inspired by God to recreate his variegated creation. Since the Victorian Era was described as the “Romantic Period”, where it began as an age of literature, art, music and culture. He uses the idea of God as a creator and is also externally influenced by the romanticism in art culture as well. This can be supported in the use of the word