Thursday, March 12, 2015
Hopkins
Hopkins' poem, which is dedicated to God, addresses God ("my chevalier," "ah my dear") and compares a falcon to inspiration or the spark of human thought more generally. He introduces the falcon and then crafts the image of the bird riding the wind as a person would ride a horse. I find the bit about "my heart in hiding" somewhat curious. It has a preacherly, devout ring to it. But it may also represent a kind of writer's block. If you read the poem in Hopkins' "sprung rhythm," it becomes much more musical and the alliteration becomes less intense. Interesting to note that the most beautiful part of the flight is the downward plunge. The accent over "sheer plod" renders the divine beauty of the bird still more magnificent. Can anyone help out with what the "blue bleak embers" refer to? Maybe to people?
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I might be wrong, but I think the "blue-bleak embers" somehow refers to the windhover's general appearance at a glance, and how this image is broken by it's "fiery" energy/demeanor. In line 10 Hopkins writes, "AND the fire the breaks from thee then..." with "thee" referring to the bird. So this just makes me think that the embers he mentions relate back to this fire-- they give a dull and "bleak" first impression, but when they break and crack they reveal their fire, or "gold-vermilion."
ReplyDeleteThen again, I never imagined this bird to have a particularly dull appearance given the way Hopkins describes it... so I'm not sure.
I think the idea that "blue-bleak" refers to people is an astute connection: the "sheer plod" raises the image of the man plodding behind a plough that is turning up earth (ie. sillion). The interruption in the next line, "ah my dear," refers back to Christ, so the line is saying to Christ that "blue bleak embers ... fall" (which suggests the mortality of man), but then "gall themselves, and gash gold vermillion." Some have suggested that this is an image of Christ's wounds on the cross, which he endured so that fallen humanity could be saved.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea that "blue-bleak" refers to people is an astute connection: the "sheer plod" raises the image of the man plodding behind a plough that is turning up earth (ie. sillion). The interruption in the next line, "ah my dear," refers back to Christ, so the line is saying to Christ that "blue bleak embers ... fall" (which suggests the mortality of man), but then "gall themselves, and gash gold vermillion." Some have suggested that this is an image of Christ's wounds on the cross, which he endured so that fallen humanity could be saved.
ReplyDelete