God’s Grandeur B y: Gerard Manley Hopkins

1. God’s GrandeurBy:Gerard Manley Hopkins Nate Deyo

2. Gerard ManleyHopkins Born in 1844, died in 1895 Attended Highgate school in Essex One of 9 children Ordained a Jesuit priest in 1870

3. Explication The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? 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. The world displays the greatness of God through all things People do not fear or respect God, and they have continually used the world People have done so much harm with human acts such as trade, but do not realize the effects on the world

4. Explication And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though 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. Nature will never be worn down God will always be seen in the sunrise Final image of nature being connected to God

5. Literary Terms The world is charged with the grandeur of God. A It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; B It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil B Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? A Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; B And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; B And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil B Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. A And for all this, nature is never spent; C There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; D And though the last lights off the black West went C Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs — D Because the Holy Ghost over the bent C World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings. D Internal rhyme Alliteration Rhyme Scheme Allusion Simile Enjambment

6. Personal Analysis -Abstract idea of God is connected to nature: “[The Grandeur of God] will flame out like shining from shook foil” “Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.” -Man’s destructive effects on nature: “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.” -Nature’s longevity and beauty: “And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;”

7. Critical Analysis • “Hopkins’ narrator holds people in his time accountable, for since God has made Himself manifest through the visible world, the narrator can only ask: “Why do men then now not reck his rod?” ” (Lackey). • Any reader educated in the symbolism of Catholicism should be aware that the flames and oil juxtaposed must refer to the Holy Spirit; a close examination of the actions described in these lines reveals a detailed, multi-faceted description of the Trinity” (Villeponteaux).

8. “…Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings…”

9. Works Cited Lackey, Michael. “ ‘God’s Grandeur’: Gerard Manley Hopkins’ Reply to the Speculative Atheist[1].”Victorian Poetry 39.1 (2001): 83. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 April 2013. Thesing, William B. “Gerard Manley Hokins and Critical discources.” Victorian Studies 39.3 (1996):453+. Literature Resource Center. Web . 16 April 2013. Villeponteaux, Elizabeth. “Flashing foil and oozing oil: Trinitarian images in the first quatrain of ‘God’s Grandeur’.”Victorian Poetry 40.2 (2002): 201+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 April 2013.