GERALD MANLEY HOPKINS (1844 - 1889- INTRODUCTION

Hopkins is victorian by birth, but in his poetic sensibility and technique he is essentially a modern.

Born in stratford, Essex 28 July 1844, Hopkins was educated at Highgate school; and Balliolcollege, Oxford. He was particularly interested in classics . The Oxford Movement affected him.

He joined the roman catholic Church in 1966. ln Mar 1866 he took three vital decision to become a priest, to become a Jesuit and to burn his poems. He worked A The Chair Of Greek at University College, Dublin from 1884 till his death in 1889. Right from his young age he proved his mettle as a poet. But from his conversion in 1866, he gave up poetry. However he came back to poetry by writing the celebratdd " wreck of the Dentscland" (Winter 1875-76) Probably he felt that his poetic talent must be used to glorify God. However, his poems came to light only when Robert Bridges published them under the title, Poems of Gerald Hopkins, now first published with notes in 1918

Quickly these poems were noted for their technical virtuosity and innovative qualities. His vocabulary, diction and rhythm are specially praise worthy. They have the unmistakable stamp of originality and boldness. Hopkins in the latter part of his career was probably influenced by Duns Scotus's (Scottish Frunciscan philosopher) concept of thinness' (haecceitas) an the idea of whatness' (quidditas) stressed by Thomas Aquinas Hopkins in hii poems tries to comprehend the inward pattern of an object. He termed in 'inscap' perhaps he brought about great changes by making the language very near to the spoken world. Also he employed the traditionalAnglo-Saxon Rhythm; sprung rhythm. ln "The wreck of the Dentschland' he used sprung rhythm from the first time. ln sprung Rhythm too as in conventional verse has reet. Every foot has at least one strongly stressed syllable. Hopkins himself explains it as follows. (But it consists) "On scanning by accents or stress alone, Without any account of the number of the number of syllables, so that a foot may be on strong syllable or it may be many light and one slrong' (Letter to R.W.Dixon). ln another letter to Robert Bridges Hopkins makes it clear that'sprung rhythm' is perhaps that musl natural, rhetoric and emphatic of all possible rhythms. Along with lhe stressed syllable oriented scanning, the poet also makes use of many cther musical devices compound adieclives, end rhyme, half rhynre, word play, assonance, alliteration etc.

Hopkins' poetic career shows three distinct periods; 1) The early romantic period.2) the middle period beginning with "The Wreck..." highly experimental. 3) The period of the sonnets of desolation;

intense in emotion but quite sever and austere in language.