Gerard Manley Hopkins
Born: July 28, 1844
Died: June 8, 1889
Feast day: N/A
Patron saint of: N/A
Though art and God seemed incompatible to him, Gerard Manley Hopkins unified the two in verse like no other poet before or since. According to critic W.H. Gardner, it is best to think of Hopkins as a poet of nature, a poet of innovation, and a poet of faith. I would add that Hopkins is a poet of strangeness, and I mean that word in its best possible connotation. Christ’s presence in the gospels is a strange event: He shocks and upends the social and political order, forcing all to reconsider traditional assumptions about the world.
In much the same way, Hopkins’ poetic strangeness allows him a level of piety that might seem melodramatic for other artists. One of the least appealing moves of writers is preachy devotion; some wish to be congratulated for their faith. Hopkins taught me what it means to be authentically, fully, and even ecstatically religious as an artist. Consider “God’s Grandeur,” which begins “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” A powerful line. God is not simply present in the world; God is grand, God charges the world with God’s presence.
More about Gerard Manley Hopkins:
Gerard Manley Hopkins’ strange and pious lens
Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry illustrates how joining emotion and intellect creates beauty.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
