my sonnet essay
Deus aut Machina?
The Industrial Revolution was a time when man, with all his genius and ingenuity, shifted from the traditional, natural state of basic human understanding of mechanics, to a more technologically advanced culture that harnessed the energies of the earth to improve the standard of living for many. Gerard Manley Hopkins, born in 1844, had the fortune of seeing human culture before, during and after the revolution. He, unlike many of the other people around him, was obviously not pleased with the changes that the industrial revolution brought about. He shows his disgust with the changes of the earth through his poem “God’s Grandeur” and the metaphors within.
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil,
It gathers to a greatness like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck His rod?
The first quatrain in the octet gives the reader the image of a world infused with the electric presence of God and his might, which is why it is so perfect. Hopkins shows this by saying that the world is “charged” with God’s presence, which will “flame out, like shining from shook foil.” The “shook foil” is a metaphor to a sheet of foil metal, such as tin or gold, which reflects the light in short bursts when it is shook. Foil, incidentally is another word for leaf, and is also a reference to the simple complexity of a leaf and how it can reflect the brilliance of God in designing the structure of a plant. God’s greatness is also reflected in “the ooze of oil [c]rushed” which is a reference to an olive, which is crushed for oil. An olive on a tree is virtually inedible in its natural state, but olive oil, as discovered by the ancient Greeks, has a versatility unmatched by other plants. Hopkins uses the olive to show God’s amazing insight in designing the olive: how it is so simple, yet so complex. Hopkins uses these metaphors to show how in creating the earth, God gave man a great gift. Yet he asks why man does “not reck his rod[.]” Man does not reck, or take care for, the earth as he should (OED). “Rod” could also refer to God’s rule or power, which gives the phrase a new meaning as well: why do humans not follow God’s authority?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And bears man’s smudge, and shares man’s smell; the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel being shod.
In the second quatrain of the octet, Hopkins further describes man’s impact on the earth. By saying that “generations have trod, have trod, have trod,” Hopkins is outright stating that hundreds of generations have walked the earth, each needing resources and taking anything they want from the earth, doing it harm and returning nothing. He uses the metaphor of “all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil” to describe how man’s presence on the earth is like a festering wound - a burn mark that is nothing but a black smudge on the earth. Everything good about the natural world is burned by man or soiled and worthless now or is attributed to man, not God, because it “bears man’s smudge, and shares man’s smell.” Hopkins is arguing that it is man that earth will be remembered for, not God nor the beauty of nature. He is trying to push his point that he does not agree with the ideals of the Industrial Revolution. He is trying to argue against the timeless phrase “progress for the sake of progress.” Hopkins further describes man’s negative impact on the earth by saying “the soil/ is bare now” meaning that earth is becoming more and more fruitless and barren, meaning that human’s have exhausted the earth’s current resources and have started to forsake God’s great gift. Humans are becoming more and more ostracized from God and nature because their feet cannot feel since they are shod, or wearing shoes (OED). By wearing shoes, humans can no longer feel the earth beneath their feet and realize the base that God set up for them. The second quatrain is also extremely repetitive and dull, giving the reader the imagery that the humans are hard at work, ignoring God’s grandeur around them and instead focusing on repetitive, boring work. This repetitive work is reference to the machinery of the Industrial Revolution. Hopkins uses a sort of onomatopoeia with his words to allude to the sound of the beat of machinery, which, during the Industrial Revolution, was paid more attention to than God and his grandeur.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights from the black west went,
Oh, morning at the brown brink eastwards springs-
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast, and with, ah, bright wings.
The sestet in the poem indicates a twist in Hopkins’ thinking. He observes that “nature is never spent,” meaning that no matter the impact humans have on the earth, nature is never exhausted and will not give up. Hopkins describes the “dearest freshness deep down things” and how the earth is like a slumbering entity that will awaken and refresh itself, reclaiming all that humans took from it. Hopkins predicts man’s demise using “the last lights from the black west went” as a metaphor for man’s presence on the earth. The lights-man will fade, taken over by darkness from the “black west” which is a reference to western technology and how the soot from industry coats everything in its path. After the last man dies, God will renew the earth as the morning renews the day “at the brown brink.” God makes sure that no matter what harm humans do to the earth, nature will renew and replenish itself. Hopkins describes God’s watching over the earth as a mother hen watching over her brood with warmth and protective wings even though the eggs, or humans, are completely oblivious to His presence.
Through the delicately chosen words in “God’s Grandeur,” it becomes clear that Hopkins believes that even as humans with their ever-growing technological advances become more and more isolated from God, He will replenish the earth. No matter what humans do to the world, God will right it again and begin anew
The Industrial Revolution was a time when man, with all his genius and ingenuity, shifted from the traditional, natural state of basic human understanding of mechanics, to a more technologically advanced culture that harnessed the energies of the earth to improve the standard of living for many. Gerard Manley Hopkins, born in 1844, had the fortune of seeing human culture before, during and after the revolution. He, unlike many of the other people around him, was obviously not pleased with the changes that the industrial revolution brought about. He shows his disgust with the changes of the earth through his poem “God’s Grandeur” and the metaphors within.
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil,
It gathers to a greatness like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck His rod?
The first quatrain in the octet gives the reader the image of a world infused with the electric presence of God and his might, which is why it is so perfect. Hopkins shows this by saying that the world is “charged” with God’s presence, which will “flame out, like shining from shook foil.” The “shook foil” is a metaphor to a sheet of foil metal, such as tin or gold, which reflects the light in short bursts when it is shook. Foil, incidentally is another word for leaf, and is also a reference to the simple complexity of a leaf and how it can reflect the brilliance of God in designing the structure of a plant. God’s greatness is also reflected in “the ooze of oil [c]rushed” which is a reference to an olive, which is crushed for oil. An olive on a tree is virtually inedible in its natural state, but olive oil, as discovered by the ancient Greeks, has a versatility unmatched by other plants. Hopkins uses the olive to show God’s amazing insight in designing the olive: how it is so simple, yet so complex. Hopkins uses these metaphors to show how in creating the earth, God gave man a great gift. Yet he asks why man does “not reck his rod[.]” Man does not reck, or take care for, the earth as he should (OED). “Rod” could also refer to God’s rule or power, which gives the phrase a new meaning as well: why do humans not follow God’s authority?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And bears man’s smudge, and shares man’s smell; the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel being shod.
In the second quatrain of the octet, Hopkins further describes man’s impact on the earth. By saying that “generations have trod, have trod, have trod,” Hopkins is outright stating that hundreds of generations have walked the earth, each needing resources and taking anything they want from the earth, doing it harm and returning nothing. He uses the metaphor of “all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil” to describe how man’s presence on the earth is like a festering wound - a burn mark that is nothing but a black smudge on the earth. Everything good about the natural world is burned by man or soiled and worthless now or is attributed to man, not God, because it “bears man’s smudge, and shares man’s smell.” Hopkins is arguing that it is man that earth will be remembered for, not God nor the beauty of nature. He is trying to push his point that he does not agree with the ideals of the Industrial Revolution. He is trying to argue against the timeless phrase “progress for the sake of progress.” Hopkins further describes man’s negative impact on the earth by saying “the soil/ is bare now” meaning that earth is becoming more and more fruitless and barren, meaning that human’s have exhausted the earth’s current resources and have started to forsake God’s great gift. Humans are becoming more and more ostracized from God and nature because their feet cannot feel since they are shod, or wearing shoes (OED). By wearing shoes, humans can no longer feel the earth beneath their feet and realize the base that God set up for them. The second quatrain is also extremely repetitive and dull, giving the reader the imagery that the humans are hard at work, ignoring God’s grandeur around them and instead focusing on repetitive, boring work. This repetitive work is reference to the machinery of the Industrial Revolution. Hopkins uses a sort of onomatopoeia with his words to allude to the sound of the beat of machinery, which, during the Industrial Revolution, was paid more attention to than God and his grandeur.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights from the black west went,
Oh, morning at the brown brink eastwards springs-
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast, and with, ah, bright wings.
The sestet in the poem indicates a twist in Hopkins’ thinking. He observes that “nature is never spent,” meaning that no matter the impact humans have on the earth, nature is never exhausted and will not give up. Hopkins describes the “dearest freshness deep down things” and how the earth is like a slumbering entity that will awaken and refresh itself, reclaiming all that humans took from it. Hopkins predicts man’s demise using “the last lights from the black west went” as a metaphor for man’s presence on the earth. The lights-man will fade, taken over by darkness from the “black west” which is a reference to western technology and how the soot from industry coats everything in its path. After the last man dies, God will renew the earth as the morning renews the day “at the brown brink.” God makes sure that no matter what harm humans do to the earth, nature will renew and replenish itself. Hopkins describes God’s watching over the earth as a mother hen watching over her brood with warmth and protective wings even though the eggs, or humans, are completely oblivious to His presence.
Through the delicately chosen words in “God’s Grandeur,” it becomes clear that Hopkins believes that even as humans with their ever-growing technological advances become more and more isolated from God, He will replenish the earth. No matter what humans do to the world, God will right it again and begin anew