It's important to have a sense of what Gerard Manley Hopkins' life was like in his last years to understand why his poetry changed and became darker. He moved to Dublin to work as a teacher in 1884. He felt overworked, underappreciated, and was chronically physically unwell. His residence was in poor condition, dingy, cramped, and cold. The plumbing leaked, and the water sometimes became fouled—a problem that ultimately led to his death from typhoid in 1889.

"I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day" is one of the so-called Terrible Sonnets from this period of his life. This poem rises out of the dark night of the soul. There is no silver lining here. But perhaps there is a paradox to darkness. Sometimes In telling the darkness and leaving it as dark as it feels, the telling itself can be a light. And, like Hopkins, if we tell the darkness, we can sometimes find our way out of it, too.

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Diffie Bosman, Alon Peretz, Kyle Preston, and Jon Gegelman. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

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In this season, we’ve talked about the beauty of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ work, but he is also known for poems that plumb the depths of the human experience as well as its heights. Hopkins suffered from several chronic maladies, and there is a darker streak that runs through many of his poems, especially in those written toward the end of his short life when his own suffering and misery had reached a crescendo.

"The Caged Skylark" is one of these darker poems. It is a poem about the cage of the frailties and foibles of the human body and about the resurrection and new creation for which Hopkins longed.

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Beneath The Mountain, Okaya, Yehezkel Raz, Ardie Son, and Christopher Galovan. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

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When Gerard Manley Hopkins became a Jesuit in 1868, he burned his poetry and swore off making any more. Then followed nearly a decade of poetic silence, in which he wrote little to no poetry. That is, until a ship called the Deutschland ran aground off the coast of England. Hopkins was so affected by the tragedy, especially the death of five Franciscan nuns, that a poem came pouring out of him in 35 eight-line stanzas.

"The Wreck of the Deutschland" is written in two parts. The first part is autobiographical, and the second part focuses on the action and aftermath of the wreck itself. Though almost roundly rejected by everyone who read it during Hopkins life, "The Wreck of the Deutschland" makes innovative use of the English language the likes of which has rarely been seen since, let alone in 1875.

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Julian Cassia, Brianna Tam, Sid Acharya, Aija Alsina, idokay, and Enzo Bellomo.

Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard. For more poetry from the Rabbit Room, subscribe to our newsletter at Rabbitroompoetry.substack.com.

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One of his most important and beloved poems, "As Kingfishers Catch Fire" is a glimpse into Gerard Manley Hopkins' philosophy of life, his way of seeing the world. Central to his approach to poetry, spirituality, and life were concepts he often refers to in his writing—inscape, a thing's "thingness" or an interior landscape, and instress, needle-sharp and deep attention to detail given to understand the essence of a thing.

With these concepts in mind, we can better make sense of "As Kingfishers Catch Fire." That as things do what they were made to do, we can see the traces of God in his creation if we are willing to look closely enough to find them. Instressing everything in life to discover the inscape, the goodness and richness God imprinted on all of creation.

Music from this episode was from EVOE, We Dream of Eden, Ian Post, Marshall Using, and Nobou. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

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Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry can be confusing at first glance, and he faced consistent criticism for his style of poetry the world just wasn't ready for at the time. His friend and posthumous editor Robert Bridges even wrote an essay called "The Oddities of Genius" about how puzzling Hopkins' work can be.

His poem "Inversnaid" is a prime example. As Hopkins contemplates a small stream by the name Inversnaid, he makes use of wonderfully unexpected words that seemingly require a glossary to understand. Like many of Hopkins' works, this poem celebrates the goodness and beauty of the ordinary world and how God is always found in the details. He poses the question: What would the world be without this stream and its taken-for-granted beauty?

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Dear Gravity, Ardie Son, and IamDayLight. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

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Gerard Manley Hopkins' known works consist of 49 poems, none of which were published in his short life of 44 years. In 1918, 30 years after Hopkins' death, his friend and then poet laureate of England Robert Bridges published a collection of Hopkins' works, but not until Bridges re-released it in 1930 did Hopkins' poetry finally gain notoriety.

In "The Lantern Out of Doors," Hopkins meditates on friendship—on our interest in one another, our worries, our hopes and fears, and how much faith it takes sometimes to carry the weight of saying goodbye. Though all relationships are lost to "death or distance," Hopkins reminds us that "Christ minds" those who move on from our lives, “their ransom, their rescue, and first, fast, last friend.”

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Yehezkel Raz, Jia Lee, and Michael FK. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

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19th-century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was a man before his time, especially in regard to his literary work. His contemporaries and even his close friends called him odd. Manley even had serious doubts about whether he should spend time writing poetry, as he considered it a potential distraction from his work as a Jesuit priest.

His poem "God's Grandeur" is a sonnet that contemplates the beauty of creation. Though God's world is marred and stained, the Holy Ghost broods over it—sustaining it and reminding us of God's grandeur.

Music from this episode was from EVOE, Ian Post, Moment of Now, Risian, Sam Rankin, Christopher Galovan, and Harbor Fate. Sound design and editing is by Nate Sheppard.

For more poetry from the Rabbit Room, subscribe to our newsletter at Rabbitroompoetry.substack.com.

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