Essay on the Power Hopkins' Sonnet, God's Grandeur
As "the world is charged with the grandeur of God," so Gerard Manley Hopkins' sonnet, "God's Grandeur," is charged with language, imagery, sounds and metric patterns that express that grandeur. Through its powerful use of the elements of poetry, the poem explores the power of God and the wonder of nature.
"God's Grandeur" is a lyric poem. The tone of the poem is one, naturally, of grandeur, as well as power and wonder. Hopkins' choices of words add to the feeling of grandeur that is the subject of the poem through their powerful imagery, and they express wonder at the power and grandeur of God and the continuity of nature. Words such as "grandeur" and "flame out" show the power with which God is revealed in His creation, while "seared," "bleared," "smeared," "smudge," and "smell" add to the sense of man's inability to recognize God's grandeur and our tendency to destroy it. In the last line of the poem, "warm breast" and "bright wings" give a sense of hope for the world, in the warmth and light of the Holy Ghost, daily renewing the world with the morning.
Several key metaphors are used in the poem. The first is the me...
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The theme of the poems involves, according to title, God's grandeur, and his power as it is revealed in creation. It also involves the "searing" effect of generations of civilization that have trod the earth. Finally, it involves the "dearest freshness deep down things" of nature and the regenerative power of God to repair the damage of civilization.
Through his use of the elements of poetry and powerful imagery, Hopkins expresses his theme in a remarkable way. "God's Grandeur" is a powerful, expressive poem, a wonderful example of the uses of metaphor, imagery, and alliteration.
The presidential election that took place in 1960 was an interesting one. Newcomer, John F. Kennedy verses the Vice President, Richard M. Nixon. It was experimental with its trail of televised debates. It also marked the second in which a catholic had run for president and more importantly the first in which a catholic attained victory.
Despite the problems that would arise, many people are beginning to feel that the drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. Studies have been made; however, no hard evidence suggesting lowering the minimum drinking age would help have surfaced. Although there are countless studies of how alcohol has many harmful effects on teenagers, there is a great deal of negative criticism about what if the drinking age is lowered. Some would say the morally right decision is to not allow teens the chance to hurt themselves. Everyone is entitled to having his or her own opinions and beliefs. However, the overall health of the youth of our country seems a little more important than some personal belief. The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact drunk driving, juvenile delinquency, and alcohol-related medical issues related to teens will increase.
Every writer leaves his mark, his imprint, in his writing; a thumb print left behind the ink if you know how to look for it, and Donne is no exception. The problem is extracting Donne’s imprint, and essence, from the poem, and understanding what that tells us about him. In one poem in particular this stands out, his Holy Sonnet IX, where Donne’s imprint lingers, giving another story behind the text, of his belief in God, but also his inner questioning, and confliction and doubt which come out as contradictions. Behind the text, Holy Sonnet IX, as Donne speaks through his speaker and poem, we come to understand that he is a religious man, though conflicted, which leads to doubt and contradictions, as he resents God in a way, while also just craving for his absolution and for him to forget and forgive his sins and wash them away, sins which weigh on him heavily and he believes taint him.
As the first poem in the book it sums up the primary focus of the works in its exploration of loss, grieving, and recovery. The questions posed about the nature of God become recurring themes in the following sections, especially One and Four. The symbolism includes the image of earthly possessions sprawled out like gangly dolls, a reference possibly meant to bring about a sense of nostalgia which this poem does quite well. The final lines cement the message that this is about loss and life, the idea that once something is lost, it can no longer belong to anyone anymore brings a sense...
William Shakespeare’s sonnets are considered to be some of the most beautiful poems in English literature. Although little is known about the poet, many seem to put their focus on Shakespeare’s inner life; wondering why he wrote the things he did. William Shakespeare is mostly known for his plays; however, he did accomplish a lot in poetry. William Shakespeare was powerful with his words, and knew how to express things in great depth. Why or who he wrote about is still a mystery. Scholars only know so much about his life, and are still trying to put the unknown pieces together.
4) Marshall, William. From A Review of the Landscape, a Didactic Poem, 1795. in The Sublime: A Reader in British 18th Century Aesthetic Theory. Ed. Ashfield, Andrew and de Bolla, Peter. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
A Divine Image gives human characteristics to the feelings of cruelty, jealousy, terror, and secrecy. The poem begins, "Cruelty has a human heart...
Miller, Laurence. "The predator's brain: Neuropsychodynamics of serial killers."Serial offenders: Current thought, recent findings, unusual syndromes (2000): 135-166.
Edward Taylor’s poem “The Preface” consist of questions as to how the world was created. The purpose of this poem is to reveal God's sovereign authority over creation and life itself. No sooner do you understand one paradox that he changes to a different set that gets a little confusing. The need to understand the next set of metaphors and picture it and then to put all together to get the message that Taylor was trying to give.
In Hopkins' piece of work, he puts together a lyrical poem that's filled with alliteration in order to make his phrases more memorable and melodious (Skylar H. Burris). An example may be “It will flame out, like shining from shook foil” (Hopkins line 2). The diction of the words “flame,” “shining,” and “shook foil” creates the imagery of warmth and liveliness. On the other hand, “grandeur” is a word used to describe magnificent and impressive (Brian Wasko), but in Hopkins' poem, he describes the “grandeur” as wearing out or is becoming thin. Hopkins message to his readers is that by people rejecting the power of God, people are also attracting negative situations into their lives. ...
This poem helps us to recognize and appreciate beauty through its dream sequence and symbolism. The poem opens with the Dreamer describing this
The consistent pattern of metrical stresses in this stanza, along with the orderly rhyme scheme, and standard verse structure, reflect the mood of serenity, of humankind in harmony with Nature. It is a fine, hot day, `clear as fire', when the speaker comes to drink at the creek. Birdsong punctuates the still air, like the tinkling of broken glass. However, the term `frail' also suggests vulnerability in the presence of danger, and there are other intimations in this stanza of the drama that is about to unfold. Slithery sibilants, as in the words `glass', `grass' and `moss', hint at the existence of a Serpent in the Garden of Eden. As in a Greek tragedy, the intensity of expression in the poem invokes a proleptic tenseness, as yet unexplained.
“The rose embodies only the perfect moment that intervenes between fulfillment and decay. Describing it, Shakespeare makes no attempt to speak in a biographical voice, or that of a dramatically defined persona. It is simply “we” who speak, as the voice of a consensus, and our desire for preserving the flower’s beauty is no less natural than its coming decline. Such a confluence, using “we” to unite temporarily speaker, reader, and the ordinary world, has a justification of its own” (Weiser, 3).
In conclusion, the sublime and the beautiful are major topics in romantic poems and novels. Different authors bring out the different ways they can be seen and interpreted. In the novel Frankenstein and the poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, the sublime and the beautiful are shown through the feelings and the mind of the main characters. In the poem “Mont Blanc,” the sublime is shown through the complexity of nature and how man will never truly be able to understand it. In order to have something beautiful there must be something sublime, and in order for they’re to be something sublime there must be something beautiful.
The third stanza marks a solid transition into Keats’ open and almost (excessive) praising of the goddess. While this isn’t too remarkable as the entire poem is focused on lavishing Psyche with extraordinary praise heaping complementary metaphor upon complementary metaphor onto her.Keats makes sure that it is clear nothing can compare to Psyche’s perfection. Keats allows this repetition to build on itself, driving the point even more home.