Pied Beauty
Stephen Lun
11R Eng Literature
Comment closely on the following poem, discussing how effective the poet shows his admiration for nature.
Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins
611 words
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth and all of its landscapes. Gerard Manly Hopkins intensely shows his adoration and admiration of nature, with it being his main theme, in “Pied Beauty”. Through diverse and effective uses of structure, imagery and symbolism he showcases his love for the world. First of all, when looking at the structure and format of the poem, it closely resembles that of a prayer shown by the one stanza format, the “Glory be to God” introduction and the “Praise him” conclusion. Hopkins introduces the concept of deism so early on because his mentality of nature being so elegant and flawless leads him to believe that only divine intervention could have created something so pleasing. The rhythm present in the poem never loses its slow, gentle flow, using only two full stops in the entire poem, to simulate the atmosphere of a calm scene in nature. Furthermore, the entire poem paints images spread across the whole colour spectrum. From “brinded cow” to “rose-moles” to even “firecoal[s]” and “chestnut[s]” Hopkins’ use of imagery creates a beautiful masterpiece of various hues that reflects his perception of nature. Hopkins uses artistic terms such as “dappled”, not just because he was a painter at the time, but also because he wanted to convey the allure of all thing. Even the widely unappealing cow is drawn in a favourable light being described as that of “couple-colour” and being “brinded” with it’s unique spots. This ‘collage’ that Hopkins makes links back to the idea of an unknown, superior being creating all things wonderful. Much like how he painted as a hobby, Hopkins portrays God as an artist forging all of nature. Penultimately, with language such as anaphora and sibilance, as well as other sound devices, Hopkins creates a pace and
11R Eng Literature
Comment closely on the following poem, discussing how effective the poet shows his admiration for nature.
Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins
611 words
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth and all of its landscapes. Gerard Manly Hopkins intensely shows his adoration and admiration of nature, with it being his main theme, in “Pied Beauty”. Through diverse and effective uses of structure, imagery and symbolism he showcases his love for the world. First of all, when looking at the structure and format of the poem, it closely resembles that of a prayer shown by the one stanza format, the “Glory be to God” introduction and the “Praise him” conclusion. Hopkins introduces the concept of deism so early on because his mentality of nature being so elegant and flawless leads him to believe that only divine intervention could have created something so pleasing. The rhythm present in the poem never loses its slow, gentle flow, using only two full stops in the entire poem, to simulate the atmosphere of a calm scene in nature. Furthermore, the entire poem paints images spread across the whole colour spectrum. From “brinded cow” to “rose-moles” to even “firecoal[s]” and “chestnut[s]” Hopkins’ use of imagery creates a beautiful masterpiece of various hues that reflects his perception of nature. Hopkins uses artistic terms such as “dappled”, not just because he was a painter at the time, but also because he wanted to convey the allure of all thing. Even the widely unappealing cow is drawn in a favourable light being described as that of “couple-colour” and being “brinded” with it’s unique spots. This ‘collage’ that Hopkins makes links back to the idea of an unknown, superior being creating all things wonderful. Much like how he painted as a hobby, Hopkins portrays God as an artist forging all of nature. Penultimately, with language such as anaphora and sibilance, as well as other sound devices, Hopkins creates a pace and