Beautiful Piety

Gerard Manley Hopkins was a meticulous man who became a Jesuit priest and worked hard at spreading his faith in Roman Catholicism. Hopkins was acknowledged for his religious themes as well as his unique poetic techniques. Hopkins's poems consisted of what he called `sprung rhythm' as well as assonance, alliteration, and internal rhyme. Hopkins often resembled Romantic poets with his affection for nature and aim for individuality. With his strongly distinct language and eccentric forms, Hopkins's work was often regarded as a twentieth-century poet's writing rather than a Victorian poet's. In his other works such as "Hurrahing in Harvest" or "The Wreck of the Deutschland", Hopkins's emphasis on idiosyncratic literature was illustrated in his depictions of nature in which wild images replaced regular patterns of beauty. In "Pied Beauty", Hopkins's "medievalism influenced his typological as well as his typical mode of artistic representation..." (Bump 83). In this poem, Hopkins describes nature's details with strange correlations and glorifies God for these creations. With the inspiring age of 19th century Impressionist imagination in art, Hopkins had painted his own work of art in a fresh and unpopular manner in "Pied Beauty" (Lowenstein 158). His new presentation of beauty and atypical descriptions of objects in this poem demonstrates his ability to create hypothetical prose. Hopkins's usage of bizarre analogies between objects and abstruse images of nature's concurring differences accentuates the worship of God's existence and makings (Hartman 103). His unusual representation of nature astonishes the audience of the 19th century as well as the normal structure of literature. The 19th century poem, "Pied Beauty" by Gerard Manley Hopkins expresses views abstracted from life rather than Victorian ideas of prettiness while creating a passionate tone and utilizing poetic devices to emphasize the praise for God's creations of imperfections.

Hopkins's display of comparisons reveals the conceptual views of nature and importance of God's authority. The poem's association with the colors of the sky and a cow illustrates the strange sight of nature's differences created by God. God is extolled "for skies of couple-color as a brinded cow; for rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim..." (Hopkins 2-3). With these descriptions of nature, "no two couple-colored skies, trout, or finches' wings are alike. They are counter to one another, original, `spare', in the sense that a spare part stands by itself, and strange..." (Hartman 100). The outrageous color difference in both objects expose the greatness of intangibility in nature and creates imperfections. This characteristic of imperfections implies that the creator must also consist more of that same magnitude. Furthermore, the connection between the design of a fish and a fire indicates the abnormal observation of God's dissimilar creations. "Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls" and the scales on a fish incorporate foreign patterns of color (Hopkins 4). In Hopkins's world, "the speckled fish appears to be falling into speckles of fire. Both fish and fire are flecked with "rose" colors" ("Explanation: Pied."..2). The individual patterns in the fish and fire intensifies with the outlandish portrayal of their features. This depiction of nature suggests an odd vitality in the hands of God and raises prominence for Him. In addition, the idea of the breaking of land by tradesmen's tools along with the concept of life signifies the peculiar outlook of God's differentiating inventions of nature. Nature's landscapes are placed in fields "and all trades, their gear and tackle and trim" (Hopkins 6). In Hopkins's outlooks on life, "the landscape is plotted and pieced-what is fallow one year is `plough' or `fold' the next; and each trade, with its special gear and tackle and trim, is an activity of making and changing the world" (Hartman 100). The relationship with the breaking of land and breaking of appearances implies the strangeness that exists in nature with the flaws that come with it. The existing flaws of both life and the piece of land infer that these faults should be overlooked and be seen as God's wonderful handiwork. The abstract views of nature and its imperfections stress the significance of all God's work and value in life.

Hopkins's utilization of alliteration manifests the variations and unifications in nature. The alliteration in the first tercet of the poem presents God's creation of diversity and oneness in nature. Hopkins's exploit of "the alliterative pattern of sounds connects the `couple-colour' of the sky to the skin of the `cow'" (Bridges 2). The couple-colored outline seen in both highly unlike things exhibits the assortment of that color. The similar images of ."..skies of couple-color as a brinded cow..." adds to the alliteration of the poem (Hopkins 2). Although variety is shown, the idea of both objects containing a couple-colored pattern exposes the union between them. Again, the alliteration of the second tercet represents the connection in diverse objects. The "alliteration in line 4, for instance, unites the `fresh firecoals,' and the `falls' of chestnuts, and the `finches'; in line 9 it suggests the presence of an underlying unity between the apparent opposites" (Bump 155). The concept of these unequal matters consisting of the same sound of "f" expresses the oneness of nature. There are not only imperfections, but also perfections of harmony and accord in the world. In addition to the alliteration, the parallel description of freshly, roasted chestnuts and ."..finches' wings..." emphasizes the oneness in nature (Hopkins 4). Obviously, both chestnuts and wings are completely separate things but contain both the merging "f" in their structure. This shows the unification and variation in both objects. Moreover, the disparity and uniting of nature is demonstrated in the third tercet of the poem. The contrast in meanings and "the relation of sound between the pairs of quality-words (`swift, slow'; `sweet, sour'; `adazzle, dim') is one of the piedness. The pairs of words are opposite in meaning, and yet similar in sound..." (Hartman 102). The similarity of sound in each word once again offers the joining between them. Additionally, the meanings of each word are different and show the dissimilarity in nature with the different concepts. With "all things counter, original, spare, strange..." (Hopkins 7) there is a resemblance between all existences in life. The continuation