The poem, God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins is an...

The poem, God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins is an Italian sonnet, which closely follows the traditional Italian rhyme of ABBAABBA, and then CDCDCD. (Shmoop) There are also several words throughout the poem that rhyme within themselves. For example God, rod, trod, shod all rhyme. Gerard Hopkins liked to use sprung rhythm in which the stressed and unstressed syllables have a complicated relationship, and the message desired from the reader can change the rhythm. (Shmoop) Sprung rhythm allows each person to read the poem differently and take away what they wish. The speaker of this poem has lost faith in humanity and their treatment of the world God had granted us. However, in the second half of the poem, the speaker shows his views of the world and its connection to God. In the first stanza of God’s Grandeur, the speaker is amazed at the greatness of God. However, he is dismayed by the way people treat God’s creation. God himself directed humans to care for their world. Genesis 2:15 says, â€Å"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.† (Genesis) Mankind’s treatment of the Earth obviously did not measure up to the standard that the speaker has envisioned. This is clearly visible in lines four through seven, â€Å"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.† (God’s) TheShow MoreRelatedGerard Manley Hopkins2457 Words   |  10 PagesBiography 1 III. Poem #1 â€Å"God’s Grandeur† 3 IV. Poem #2 â€Å"Binsey Poplars† 4 V. Reputation and Critical Reception 5 VI. Conclusion 6 I. Introduction Bridging the distance between nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poetry is of great significance. As often the case with innovators and artists who are ahead of their times, Gerard Manley Hopkins was torn by contradictions and his poems regarded as unconventional forRead MoreGod s Grandeur By Gerard Manley Hopkins1074 Words   |  5 PagesGerard Manley Hopkins’ poem God’s Grandeur is about man kind’s ignorance of God’s presence and power in the world and their destruction of said world. Using imagery, form, word choices and rhythm/meter, Hopkins explains how man’s greed destroys nature, how seeking our own pleasures can take us away from God and how, even though we move away from God, he never moves away from us. Based on the fourteen lines and the rhyme scheme ABBAABBA (the octave) and CDCDCD (the sestet), It is deduced that God’sRead MoreEnglish 102 Poetry Essay925 Words   |  4 PagesBarham Liberty University English 102   Thesis Statement: The poem is a great example of communicative techniques and display of mood. Themes of the poem include man and nature, life and religion to list a few. Because the identity of the poet isnt really entailed in the poem but further investigation on him has given me answers which prove relevant to the poem. Although the setting of the poem isnt explicitly listed in the poem one can get a feel of the setting due to the fact that it was writtenRead MoreCompare the Ways in Which Hopkins’ ‘God’s Grandeur’ and Wordsworth’s ‘the World Is Too Much with Us’ Use the Sonnet Form to Address Their Contemporary Concerns.4584 Words   |  19 Pagesenvironmental change, experienced an astounding shift in poetic style, in which many based their work on the ‘beauty’ of their surroundings, and how mankind affected this. Of this period, two of the leading nature poets in British literary history, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Will iam Wordsworth became known, renowned as great figures in British literary history. Both adopted a ‘sacramental’ view of nature, that is they saw beyond the obvious features commonly associated with the natural world such as phenomenalRead MoreAnalysis Of Thomas Hardy s Hap Essay1724 Words   |  7 PagesWritten in 1866, Thomas Hardy s poem Hap is a response to the nineteenth century movements of secularization and the Industrial Revolution. In the poem, Hardy echoes Christopher Marlowe s earlier wrestling with the question of predestination and free will. His narrator laments the heartbreak he faces because he is unable to place blame on a god bent on revenge. However, unlike Marlowe, Hardy resolves the question, stating that misfortunes, as well as well as life s pleasures, are simply theRead MoreThe Sonnet Form: William Shakespeare6305 Words   |  26 PagesShakespeare’s Sonnets William Shakespeare The Sonnet Form A sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem, traditionally written in iambic pentameter—that is, in lines ten syllables long, with accents falling on every second syllable, as in: â€Å"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?† The sonnet form first became popular during the Italian Renaissance, when the poet Petrarch published a sequence of love sonnets addressed to an idealized woman named Laura. Taking firm hold among Italian poets, the sonnet spread