Gerard Manley Hopkins is considered one of the finest poets of the English language. Hopkins was a convert to the Catholic Faith and a Jesuit priest. He lived during what Blessed John Henry Newman referred to as "the second spring" of Catholicism in England and his work demonstrates how the if the Church is to be effective in its evangelization and catechetical efforts it must develop and foster a rich artistic and literary culture. Today, Jack Thorton offers an interpretation of Hopkin's poem "As Kingfishers Catch Fire." For more on Gerard Manley Hopkins check out the Word on Fire Book Club.
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying What I do is me: for that I came.
I say more: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: that keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Christ—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.
Deep breath. This is a complicated poem. Read it again. Then read it out loud. Hearing the sounds will not only provide immense enjoyment at their beauty but will also lend understanding to the meaning behind them.
OK. Let’s dig in.
Gerard Manley Hopkins is one of the renowned poets of the Victorian era. Most of his poems were published posthumously on account of his conflicted relationship with poetry. On one hand poetic expression constantly attracted him, but for much of his life he felt that giving himself over to poetry would lessen his religious devotion, and so he published very few of his works. His poems stand out for their extensive use of alliteration and onomatopoeia, vibrant depictions of nature and his rejection of conventional meter in favor of a meter he called ‘sprung rhythm,’ which was influenced by archaic, Germanic poems. As a convert to Catholicism and a Jesuit priest religious tones and themes pervade much of his poetry. “As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Dragonflies Draw Flame” is exemplary of Hopkins’ style and his recurrent themes of nature, religion and inscape.
Inscape, an important motif of Hopkins’ work, is like the inner landscape of an object; the inner shapes and designs of an object’s essences that are harmoniously unified and patterned. By exploring the inscapes one can come to a greater metaphysical understanding of the object and, from there, closer to God.
“As Kingfishers Catch Fire…” demonstrates the concept of inscape as well as any Hopkins poem. He starts with the physical before moving into the spiritual and moral realm. With the images of the kingfisher reflecting light off its feathers as though an iridescent flame and the dragonflies’ colors shining like fire, Hopkins portrays the animals doing exactly what is natural for them and, in doing so, revealing their inscape or essence. A kingfisher flies, dives, dips and catches fish, while the dragonfly hums through the air. The sunlight beautifully illumines both of them as they enact their nature. Hopkins is highlighting their inscape by describing the natural beauty that springs from their natural activities.
The following line describes stones tumbling into a well and the sound that accompanies their fall; a ringing echo that is beautiful and completely natural for those stones. In their falling and their ringing they express themselves as themselves just like a bell expresses itself and identifies itself through its peals. Here the bell is a bell precisely because it does what a bell does, and it realizes its inner essence by making the sound unique to it. The use of “tongue” to describe the bell’s swinging clapper emphasizes the concept of self-expression and starts the transition from the description of the physical realm of animals and inanimate objects to a discussion of the concept of inscape:
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.
Everything on earth expresses its inner essence—“that being indoors each one dwells”—by being itself. Everything “selves.” Selves here is not a noun but a verb—the act of expressing the inscape by being.
In the sestet Hopkins shifts from beings in general to mankind—specifically the just man. Here he uses “justices” as a verb rather than a noun: “the just man justices.” The just man identifies himself as a just man by acting justly and expressing that which is natural to him. The implication here is that a man is not a man unless he acts justly since justice is natural to mankind. Grace “that keeps all his goings graces” is also natural to humanity since God made man in his image. Because God made man in his image, and because Christ became a man thus realizing that image of God most perfectly, each person is meant to live as Christ for Christ: “Christ plays in ten thousand places, … / To the Father through the features of men’s face.” We do not truly express our inner essences or fulfill our individual inscapes unless that expression is an expression of Christ in us.
So far this has been a very cursory look at the poem. Much more can be said of these 14 lines. Each word deserves a paragraph. For the sake of time I will only look closely at the kingfisher image to give you an idea of the depth of the poem. I leave the rest to you.
On one level the kingfisher is just that—a bird who catches fish. Hopkins’ examination of individual inscape relies on this literal, physical interpretation. Every creature and object has an essence that, when witnessed, is a beautiful reflection of God on earth. You can’t explain this interpretation away. It must remain. As with all great poetry, however, there are multiple levels of meaning all intertwining. The kingfisher is a kingfisher but he also represents everyman. He is a king—the highest citizen and the top of society. But he is also a fisher—a member of the low, working class. This is an indication that the justice and grace discussed later in the poem are universal. They are meant not just for rulers and leaders or only lowly and poor, but everyone.
The kingfisher also points to the Christ introduced in line 12, which strengthens the everyman interpretation since Christ is in all people: “Christ plays in ten thousand places, / Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his”. Christ is the king, the ruler of Heaven and Earth. All things and all creatures fall under his dominion. But he was also born among the poorest of the poor, and his great friends and disciples were fishermen whom he made fishers of men. He is, in a sense, king of the fishers. Moreover, the kingfisher shines like fire in the air bringing to mind the flame of Pentecost, the inspiration of the saints, the revelation to the prophets, the transfigured Christ and the light that shines in the darkness.
As you can see, there is a whole lot packed into this sonnet. One blog post cannot capture everything, but I hope this is a useful introduction to a truly marvelous poem.
Jack Thornton is a Research Assistant at Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.