Rhyme & Reason

Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry can be confusing at first glance, and he faced consistent criticism for his style of poetry the world just wasn't ready for at the time. His friend and posthumous editor Robert Bridges even wrote an essay called "The Oddities of Genius" about how puzzling Hopkins' work can be.

His poem "Inversnaid" is a prime example. As Hopkins contemplates a small stream by the name Inversnaid, he makes use of wonderfully unexpected words that seemingly require a glossary to understand. Like many of Hopkins' works, this poem celebrates the goodness and beauty of the ordinary world and how God is always found in the details. He poses the question: What would the world be without this stream and its taken-for-granted beauty?

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Dear Gravity, Ardie Son, and IamDayLight. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

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Gerard Manley Hopkins' known works consist of 49 poems, none of which were published in his short life of 44 years. In 1918, 30 years after Hopkins' death, his friend and then poet laureate of England Robert Bridges published a collection of Hopkins' works, but not until Bridges re-released it in 1930 did Hopkins' poetry finally gain notoriety.

In "The Lantern Out of Doors," Hopkins meditates on friendship—on our interest in one another, our worries, our hopes and fears, and how much faith it takes sometimes to carry the weight of saying goodbye. Though all relationships are lost to "death or distance," Hopkins reminds us that "Christ minds" those who move on from our lives, “their ransom, their rescue, and first, fast, last friend.”

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Yehezkel Raz, Jia Lee, and Michael FK. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

For more poetry from the Rabbit Room, subscribe to our newsletter at Rabbitroompoetry.substack.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

19th-century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was a man before his time, especially in regard to his literary work. His contemporaries and even his close friends called him odd. Manley even had serious doubts about whether he should spend time writing poetry, as he considered it a potential distraction from his work as a Jesuit priest.

His poem "God's Grandeur" is a sonnet that contemplates the beauty of creation. Though God's world is marred and stained, the Holy Ghost broods over it—sustaining it and reminding us of God's grandeur.

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Ian Post, Moment of Now, Risian, Sam Rankin, Christopher Galovan, and Harbor Fate. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

For more poetry from the Rabbit Room, subscribe to our newsletter at Rabbitroompoetry.substack.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.