The Poet in the Service of the Virtue of Religion (original) (raw)
Related papers
184-188 The Manifestation of devotional.pdf
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) was held to be a priestly metaphor of Victorian Poetry and a syntactical simile of Modern Poetry. He had prophetically been in search of the “authentic cadence” that paved the way for his spiritual fulfillment. Hopkins motivation is to know God; therefore, he crafts his poems in forms. For Hopkins, everyone is, in a small way, the image of God. By nature, Hopkins is a deeply religious man who has been an ardent believer in God and in the divinity of Christ. From his childhood, Hopkins has a very powerful ascetic strain in his temperament, Whereas the people of his age take pleasure in the facilities provided by the scientific discoveries. Hopkins wants to engage himself in his own solitude. The verbalized and mystic perception of God is metamorphosed into the utter poetic silence, chosen by Hopkins himself. Believing that the writing of poetry is self-indulgence for one who has decided to dedicate his life to God, Hopkins does not practise his hand on poetry for seven years. He engages himself in his self –chosen, austere devotion towards God by observing Jesuit orders, meditations, study of theology, noviceship and spiritual exercises. This paper deals with Hopkins’s constant awareness of the divine presence in the universe as well as his poetic attempt to achieve spiritual fulfillment.
The aim of this paper is to identify those factors which caused the later (post-1875) poems of the Jesuit priest and poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to be considered so original. The uniqueness of Hopkins’ work is due to a radical approach to theme, rhythm and aural effect. Several poems are closely examined under these headings in order to demonstrate Hopkins’ poetic theories and to contrast them with other contemporary poets’ approaches where appropriate. Where possible, the dissertation evaluates the effectiveness of Hopkins’ prosody as well as his technique. Biographical, critical and psychological considerations are documented only inasmuch as these factors help explain elements of the Hopkins’ canon. Various thematic influences upon Hopkins are examined and his lifelong quest for individuality and ‘thisness’ is positioned against the background of his intense religious beliefs. Hopkins’ letters, journals and sermons are drawn upon in order to better understand the context of each poem evaluated. The dissertation concludes by noting and reviewing examples of successive poets that have been influenced by Hopkins’ work.
R.S. Thomas (1913-2000): Faith Shaper in Verse
Recognized as a leading poet of the twentieth century, R. S. Thomas (1913-2000) wrote about the people of Wales in a style that some have compared to that nation's harsh and rugged terrain. As a clergyman of the Church in Wales, his poetry reveals a religious theme, often reflecting the lonely predicament of a priest who was isolated in his parish. But for Thomas there was a strong link between ‘priest’ and ‘poetry’. ‘Poetry is religion, religion is poetry. The message of the New Testament is poetry. Christ was a poet….’ The aim of this selection, under twelve Christian ‘Faith Markers’, is not designed to colonise the poet, but is rather an attempt to find Christian traces in the work of one influential modern ‘Faith Shaper’. The twelve sections, consisting of quotations, relate to the headings of the compiler’s website, www.faithshapers.co.uk and the Academia papers online, 'Finding the Evangelical Anglican Way: 1375 to the present day', but also derive from reflection upon his own personal spiritual journey.
Divine, Philosophical, and Existential dimension of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poetry
Journal of Humanities and Education Development, 2020
The research paper aims to exhibit and explore pious, philosophical, and existential aspects of Gerard Manley Hopkins' selected poems which remain an invaluable contribution to the shape and development of the Christian thought both for theologians and academic critics. The author of the article emphasizes that Hopkins's challenging, highly ambitious and complex works, filled with spiritual anxiety, dualism and struggle between reason and sensuality, harmony and violence, happiness, and suffering, were mostly reject able by the Victorian audience and critics. Hopkins's "model of the world" (Barańczak 1981), his depiction of tragic human existence and the presentation of two contradictory facets of God meet more the expectations of contemporary readers and are more appreciable by today's thinkers, philosophers, and critics.
Forms of Devotion in Early English Poetry (Cambridge University Press, 2023)
Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature, 2023
Jennifer Lorden reveals the importance of deeply-felt religious devotion centuries before it is commonly said to arise. Her ground-breaking study establishes the hybrid poetics that embodied its form for medieval readers, while obscuring it from modern scholars. Working across the divide between Old and Middle English, she shows how conventions of earlier English poetry recombine with new literary conventions after the Norman Conquest. These new conventions—for example, love lyric repurposed as devotional song—created hybrid aesthetics more familiar to modern scholars. She argues that this aesthetic, as much as changing devotional practice, rendered later affective piety recognizable in a way that earlier affective devotional conventions were not. Forms of Devotion reconsiders the roots and branches of poetic topoi, revising commonplaces of literary and religious history.