Use of Imagery in Hopkins’ Poems

Answer

Critically comment on the imagery used in Hopkins’ poems you have read.

Imagery is the use of words that create pictures in the reader’s mind. So, a poet uses imagery to show how things look, sound, smell, taste, or feel, using words. Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) is known for his beautiful and rich imagery in poetry. He was a Jesuit priest and a nature lover. He uses images from nature and daily life in his poems. He uses beautiful images to show how something beautiful in nature can make us think about God. Let us now critically discuss the imagery used in Hopkins’s poems.

Imagery in Nature: Hopkins uses nature imagery to show God’s glory and beauty. In “Pied Beauty” (written in 1877), he uses images of the sky, cows, trout, chestnuts, and birds to praise God. He begins the poem with this line:

“Glory be to God for dappled things –”

Here, “dappled things” means things with spots or colours. Hopkins praises God for creating the sky with mixed colours, spotted cows, and the dots on swimming trout (a kind of fish). He also praises the red-brown fallen chestnuts and the beautiful wings of finches. All these images show variety and beauty in God’s creation. Hopkins also writes:

“Swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim.”

These images show us that all things in nature—fast or slow, sweet or sour, bright or dim, and good or bad—all are God’s creation.

Imagery of the Windhover: In “The Windhover” (1887), Hopkins uses the image of a falcon (windhover) flying in the sky. He describes the falcon’s beauty and power as it flies. It is riding the wind. It dives, glides, and turns beautifully in the air. The poet depicts it as the morning’s favorite and the prince of daylight.

…Morning’s minion, king-

dom of daylight’s dauphin…”

This detailed image of the windhover gives us an idea of