An interesting counterpoint to this poem is Byron's On The Death of a Young Lady (1802), in which the young lady is also named Margaret, and is also the dedicatee of the poem. Byron's poem opens in a grove at dusk. Margaret is dead, and the poet grieves while reminding himself of her eternal soul. "But wherefore weep? Her matchless spirit soars / Beyond where splendid shines the orb of day". In Hopkins's poem, which opens in "Goldengrove unleaving", the grieving has turned purely internal: the poet observes young Margaret mourning for her own ineluctable fate: a fascinating internalization and compression of time. Hopkins seems to deny his Margaret the redemption offered by Byron's Providence. He remains squarely with the sorrows of the living: "It is the blight man was born for."
I was excited to see you were doing a reading of one of Gerard Manley Hopkins poems. He is a poet and nature writer whose work I’ve enjoyed for years. You discussed the word “unleaving” as being ambiguous. Did it mean the tree was releasing its leaves or would it mean “not leaving”? Your discussion of this poem revealed more of his intriguing way of stringing words together.
A word he used in his nature writing drew me to him in the early 90’s. He used the word “ Inscapes” for expressing his view “for the integrity of every natural object or landscape, as of every authentic poem…” For Hopkins, natural experience “was always individual, a lyrical whole, stressed and startling.” I felt his word matched my belief in the work I was doing and used his word “Inscapes” as the title of my Masters thesis when I exhibited my paintings.
I am enjoying your podcasts very much and thank you for doing them.
An interesting counterpoint to this poem is Byron's On The Death of a Young Lady (1802), in which the young lady is also named Margaret, and is also the dedicatee of the poem. Byron's poem opens in a grove at dusk. Margaret is dead, and the poet grieves while reminding himself of her eternal soul. "But wherefore weep? Her matchless spirit soars / Beyond where splendid shines the orb of day". In Hopkins's poem, which opens in "Goldengrove unleaving", the grieving has turned purely internal: the poet observes young Margaret mourning for her own ineluctable fate: a fascinating internalization and compression of time. Hopkins seems to deny his Margaret the redemption offered by Byron's Providence. He remains squarely with the sorrows of the living: "It is the blight man was born for."
I was excited to see you were doing a reading of one of Gerard Manley Hopkins poems. He is a poet and nature writer whose work I’ve enjoyed for years. You discussed the word “unleaving” as being ambiguous. Did it mean the tree was releasing its leaves or would it mean “not leaving”? Your discussion of this poem revealed more of his intriguing way of stringing words together.
A word he used in his nature writing drew me to him in the early 90’s. He used the word “ Inscapes” for expressing his view “for the integrity of every natural object or landscape, as of every authentic poem…” For Hopkins, natural experience “was always individual, a lyrical whole, stressed and startling.” I felt his word matched my belief in the work I was doing and used his word “Inscapes” as the title of my Masters thesis when I exhibited my paintings.
I am enjoying your podcasts very much and thank you for doing them.