SELECTED POEMS, KITH A COMPARISON OP RELIGIOUS SONNETS OF DONNE MIO HOPKINS
APPROVED*
*3. ddte mi&t Professor
tf, Ala/- Consulting Professor
(pb^t&VLuy h • & mimr professor
d^nnm of" thc^Depar ti&@nt of 'English'
O-S-VxJ^, ) DMUI oV th« Graduate School SELECTED P0£Ki3, WITH A COMPARISON OF RELIGIOUS SONNETS OF DONNE AMD BDPKXK'3
THESIS
Presented to the Graduate council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Oegre© ©f
WASTER OF ISfS
By
tfary Teresa Roger®* B* A* Denton, Texas May, 1970 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page mm I. SELECTED POEMS ...... % let the light slide • ••••• 2 Don't love we too much 3 Z tried to write the word LOVE ••••••«• 4 I got to be so high • ••...••••••• 5 lt*s you again . . . . 6 Song Number Four • ? Honey 8 For you and me a time 9 there#s rain on the grass io Late in the afternoon 11 in a low bed • • • 12 As the phoenix stretched his wings •*•««« 13 Well darling 14 arguing late 15 You sat me down and told me «••«••••« 16 We went down in city feet 1? Only on odd nights ...... 18 this fear is too close ••••*»*«•«»* 19 never was a love found and lost 20 corn that grew was picked and hung ...... 21 on a dark blue winter evening 22
Hi i»mg@ beautiful dies the world ...... 23 bread fills some kind of eapty «•«••••• 24 1 mm Just learning How to Live without You . . 25 X choose blue-ringed plates • 26 A dart* fiddle fits his hand ...... 27 meditation counsels letting things happen • • 28 mellov flrelightning flows ...... 29 But poetry is not as important • • « 30 Does the lover vin «ho dares 31 FAST XX* A COfcPAttXSOfc OF SOfcE 8ELXGI0U3 SONNETS OF HOPKINS AND DONNE . . . 32 BXfcLXOGSAPHY ...... 58
iv WW? 1
wucna» POEMS let the light slide down the roof and into your tan£ stare fur a tmm time with its on© to talk to and a<» peaceful birds are coming in your window and the soul grows mm hwmn mmry moment cam® in here and talk to m for 1 Ms very lonesome love spread® over ttw city shoot it into your veins* people for we need it sudkienly* and soon Don#t love me too istxeS* in all such innocance asy hands are o$*en for giving, not for taking and so as 1 protected 1*11 sell oat If yoa give mm a chance •oil out for wisdom or ami Isind of bmuty* give up at th» last winut© rather than face four human mym 4
tri®4 to writ® the MR& LOVE tout mmm crawl«d out of it tried to IMK it tt» sky but it mm fail of togrf eyes tried to smile MT * frieod fatst it from oxi ny face tri*i to screw® for 2»ip but words kept coding calmly Z got to be SO high bo detache-d from time and space that X mm ©wrybody &m the world loops of colored lights •trwtdted from everybody's fingers to ewryfeody «Im*« the tiwm will come when you'll mm wm*m lU one «rf poor frltnd lias to do * hard thing and X hear the band coming over the hill fgmmgt saw Piirfi otoiili for doing euy things the hard nay how easy breathe® my mind in tho city of St. Francis how wonderingly I love the nay each thing has its own nature 8
It*§ you •gain coming feadfe to m again not m in the slanted streets in the city of evening lights when I always felt your shoulder beside sine a® «© walked up the Mil together in the cold fog up the stain together to a laughing sapper belt as a mm returns to a neman when Iw1! left her for long enough to hope that aha has changed Song Ntiwbor Foar
I came around in a xnoiwsnt of dofinito tim» Fooling in all that 1 triad, mvx&ng coming inside. X fell In low® with the light on the tmcte of ity hand* Sun sIKHM down in ssy eyes, iJ%ertiO@ti full of sarprls®. Flowers weplodod and loft thoir &mlgm ©n the vail, mmry rising so high# Mashing ay face in tti® sky* can't you isagixio the best of thorait o f the night? Shadowing soft aa a dr©a®» Firafliaa, homy and croaau Paoplo iaagina tranquillity blind. But X came around in a dofinit® tli a
Honey ®tm sings to Cuban jazs perfur® and quic^ light steps in high heels lights cm® m in the bin* city as the fog pulls evening •cross th® B»y t*m ready to g® For you and m a tine two years ago or forty yaars fro© mw for you and awe a place on top of a mountain orfeenaath a €Sirist*M twm For pm and we a game of haste plaf®$ vitb mmmi mlm gmntlemBB to take our tie© (out of Ite ttm) to MM* our piaca (out of it® place) sithar Z*v@ ym or ym imem vfay not totoo hopeles s better than 14©* mm of tfce tim Still the fantasy ha® its own truth nourishing OUR @OGN£ ©oul® building a house of peace You'ra afc@aufcj*»tr@© I n tsy mita$ a regular popsiclt* • * 10
thero'a rain on the gras® in th« world*® gardan purple iris arul b®fiding sprawl of ©oft ifhita blossom jmm really appreciate TOrniisg after a long aljjbt ihurp words turning into children with golden tends and you can't this* of «ngrthliig that isn*t ©oesamioi'i forgiveness ia tlm lightest grace these are apple® for ©verftw® praise for utiat is good continues through time
see j*m 11
Lata In the afternoon tiie «ir cooled down to Uvtsdtr and th@ lights came on iwat gold down the old street full of dogs, and iwlgMbers' children thlracing about suppc«r in the 'war© e»pty Mtetowt X Gteppec! out the bads door
into bloving green reatleaaneee In the tops of the trees ruffled with atvenltig air blowing from another oountyt another etata fresh notion
how X want to leave this str@®t full of children 12
in a low bad inft high-ceilinge d room under my gran&ROther#s quilt* made % her Mtin 1ft CSOBHfeST 1 wait for healing in sl@©p and the seond of tht night#a rain
ttf tin® atuntolea mn In clean aheeta evan in th® £r@sfi rain pouring ©y tii» ©t»bl©s trips itaalf in wilcaftil questions ttwan finally quiata to a eloek softly ticking 13
As the phoenix •trttdMi his wings ®jr aiatf githw«d grain fro* • fi«l well mxXtmg torn tf© you tile® your oioctric mind? energy skis® through tlni circuits proton saluting •loctron as you answer mm this ovittfhMi ctlcM. or teioek or transfer to S»©©eh and the eolo* of »y @y®s i® • eoloriooe movement in your skull the ooffo® cap is mm to my 1umd your voim m pmitivm a niglife wind pours «tewf* fell® mm bex$i#s *r« woven with p&m mlmtrieity liov can no be arguing if ««*r« not won •olid? is argtiln® iat# withraawy cigarette s tin «^usu®ti®Ei et<3$»« tfe* fiurrti and ve go to bed vith shadows and « moon ae dim as our knowled^ of ©ad* other raeworiee buzs around Uk* mini ait night a«S giv© ws lad dream® taaflei in sloop and sheets the am opilio sky and m Miisfc* light-blind in the mm and firm earth hreeze through tlio open torn Hat mm doim and toid m «pi®fcS,3p why I wm doing all those desperate things. Explaining why i mi «fir»i4 of you &»*£ why Z couldn't t«U you, Bp®*!®. SIW cryiiig Ae if t*$ done ft whole day's work, and tws»t!ii*j§ Slower vhil* yow taileed, at last 1 »aw That you «®r® holding my mind safe in youra when 1 had lost it fro® my mm aafiMeaivixig* 17 a If® i# #jgrwmWt*frr jfftfrr Hrf \iwk {m dr THMHwI H In city fMHt where acid-green voodiight wraps around the path •visNBing tllw tarn flab our iiarsi© patterned with leaves He fw^ff beck with wet hair tee a pot of tea and wheat tread and a blue bowl f«at of fruit wkvtelMtikmt® eprea d em th® floor iaiisp tight cturlod in dexfcnesa and why it na» ao epecial mm th® height of the vmuntmlm endlessness of trees 10 only m odd oi#sta when h© sit® up 1st® with a feoak do X find ilk Ml that ©ool prliracy that vhen 1 wae younger was tfc* assured ond of every #17 ilmi tittd nerve® that held mini and boiy together knew they had no on& i«£t to f «|»y jt flatter or U«t«i to and could taJe© off attd go to th© fair rite any ride or nono it mi ju»fc It® 1 plMMOd KJWOlf only wy mm tedfwnfe to baw to @17# fpy baCiding this fear is toe el#®# and fctiat drean tm far away for poetry to focus in grace wmm in angry grae© upon a set of changes siren tte© fer««© are its mysterious perspective ©wniag light oasts toacH gold fur green and near fcbe earth daxfc leaves ar® blurred mver was a lov» found audi lost m often in Xaat-iPinute ewbracee unexpected cruelties un»noticetf indifferences we can ring all the changes lovers ever lived through but for us the music has no theme the po«e no rhythm 21 cown that «r#w TWPTKfFWlr IF# wm*f P picke^gSr^t ^WF VfF d and hung on oer mtl colored like tins richteronssa tmmm In • crisp wind «y love cling® to a dying tree softness dries grovs radiant in &g© loosening firm desire ©om that could nourish man sight taste bitter «tfch® deat h we gaw it 22 on a tlairtc blue vintmr emitting -111 tlM Ulpll^fc a vase of red iemv&si holds my eyes away £*©» film inpatient #f »r attention ewrf ImI 1» r«<& it® crisis tine in mil this firelight «tilln»es 23 beautiful. dim ttm wrl4 beautiful, lies tlie p®«si easting light Js®yoiid sty particular e bread fill® some kind of «npiF hands cmp the floor and light the mm or not «m ooKSiorc etn fight imaginary ehiidr©!* fill th© kitchen as light* cocm» on at twilight km I was Just Learning How to live without You fart. 1 when 2 touched you without remembering why echoes of echoes played along ®y nerves flower-like branch and leaf shadowed time rinsed sunset water flashed in tiny pictures faifiiatur®® of color musical arabesques fro* a circus on the other side of the world form and shape th®sa®@lves so that the preciousness of no one is a light not of tears but of duet with your head against r.y breast and not a word of explanation to tr.y doubtful Mood Part II plums and grapes just beyond »y reach their taste reflected in a maze of glass at you the intersection of my past and present when the circle tightens for a life that has to wake a living eat enough to breathe quietly enough to sleep and sleep enough to be awake enough to worlc what can't be cured nvust be endured what can*t be endured »ust be ignored Part III once X knew a long sunset bright enough to be my sunrise 26 1 choose blue-ringed plates of Kexican design cut out pictures and paste them on the will comb out my hair vhen it gets tangled little decorations of my life 1 choose grace to walk a dance offering room to changing partners wen and vooen dissolving in the leaves each morning, in the morning in the morning glory Biy wind feels looee enough for just a mordent to feel itself healed or a rhyth© cmmm in a phrase of sound vhen the tangles in «y life turn to lace and X gently reach out to each friend vith the tip of my finger 27 4 dark fiddls fits Ms hand, the mmrlmg vriot In the @asfe©r» spting mm* powm m the back yar*S# terokmi lilaci in m cop tls® past e*sanlr,g lamps burned in the hills ar.d quarrel* MmmmS with too nif friends CUM by to visit awi brought bawrfeoft ®«t at MS cleaned tfcwss isitdten %& fill tfca Hip again water msMwg on aapfcy gi&sse® na» <*u liawfe without a bath took coffee out «i the back porch squinting at th© warning ami the PM^MSI dowi the road Iwsard him plMfimg Ms fiddle to the doge 28 »<3ifcnfci«m mmmmtm letting tilings happen but £ live in a tvilight of a few stars and all &lm and bright at. ay wliieporing sv®$$Nbb4iiSf *ww» to lis who heaitates i* lost 2@ wmllm ttmm as mtm tinm* Md etnieis to pillow nearest thm stove tfeicfe stir® tin* dUmas into golden broth into Tom bmim lMT OpOtt &fm plvm r©<3 feefainci closed eyelids 4MaUig tfcm of tSbm snowfall orchard til® T»1*P» ftMMI Mwwafaaaw spring iitfit fill® her sleep vith leave© and corning sky mpiimlmg in atarllka rain 30 ant poetry 1® not as important as doing the next thins day by iay being glad that energies© w®**grm daring the nidht so that mrnt day I can laayfe© 4o somthing with iia|>Ucitr taxing a® they mm wummntm of grace not just having them in my head but transforming theis into am hoar a minute a tr#er cownl with ic# tit* smXl of soup and hsrtos cool sheets 'a banjo tuns praetiestf until it emm clean mmI right softly treaautrinf tip not answers to grsat riddles but still reasons to not Si® 31 Doas «Jm Iwrjt win who 4mm the daath of hi® paaeion? Or the who Jceeps what ha Invfus in m mwmmr»c&lmm4 4E®WS? Wmm Is® cowand the strength to nafccth ?dst is real keep growing? Or doas ha hold it still, lit the nest of Ms heart? a*ildr«ri hawn't learned th® tricks of fantasy* But neither can thay love in th© fac@ of a vision of !©»©• PART IX A COMPARISON OF SOME MLT&MM SCWWFS OP HOPKINS M® DONHE Many critic® hmm tho pootry of Joint SMW ®IM3 OMMurd hanloy mpkim, mmn thoagf* thm tw a»n mxm not eootaiqporarioa and waro lnfloanead l*y tlswuu- tte olooanta of ©factional richnaaa, conploxity* and farnrotcfeod iiaagory l*av© boon found in the vorfc of tooth »on.l Among a vrittr* of roligiooa po«tryt ^ ® wKwkl a# Donna and iiopkina for an unaalfconacloua oaproaaion of doveut fooling2 ana tho use of divtlnetly physical iwagory for the osupt©- ration of a roliglooa aood.3 Poano*a reputation a» a oyatlc has iaoon Maintained,* and Hopkins* *torrlblo sonnet®** hmm temm call©*! mm of tho groatoat «*pr»a«iow§ of fch® mystical oxporionoo Known aa tho "da«* night of tha aoul«"5 on tho othor hand# mm® liaa alao been ctiaraetoriWMi aa too ^sldwrd coanda* *Uop8€l*ni and mrnrnt Mystic and Mataphyaical#" mmmMmmm* ix (1957), p« 183« 2Naadail Story Johnson, Ooirard MMFLFY Kopfelnei 2J£ Poot as Victorian (Haw York, 1968), pTlM# 3Xfor £v»»m# teallah foatry in tho Hlnotoonfth y;enturv (Nov YorM# 1966)* p. 284. ^Itrait-Hiiaain, Tho ifiwstleal lloatoiitif In tho Mataohvalcol Poets g»f gig Sfi*v*snti»«nth Century (idintourgh, 1948}, p. 75* sEliaaboth Jonnlnga, "ftio Unity of Incarnation#* Purlin Eovlotr. CCXXXXV (I960), p» 175. 32 33 salf-csanfcarad to be i true siyatict* and B&pKitm ha® been labelled an "analogiat,* u distinct from a nature nystie or a religioos jayatic«7 The position of the two pouts in literary history i» in roany mys similar* Sonne stand© out as an innovator against til® elegance of tbm Petrarchan tradition, and Hopkins ie«w equally original in thm mimt of nineteenth century Victorian roaanticien. tofel* poata wire oxpar isomers in for»» aotra* and diction* and both pr» a higher plae© to the intellect than km «*wwm* for the poatry of thoir time®*8 In order to compare the norfe of Bonn® and Hopfcina* thm pmmm to be considered here have been choeen frost tboM nfriich should contain mm similarities in form and eocitomt~- the wist personal religious sonnets.9 By analysing mmmml elements of style* imagery# and tea, the m mil m the similarities imtvmn thm tm toadies of work my come into clearer a« *Coanda* p. 182* ^Herbert Marshall Mcu*han» nfbm Aaalogteal Mirrore*" Kenyan mrnimwm VI (1944)* p# 322. sOairid Morris, The Bppfcer of €«a^d yanlair Hopkins Mi !• A* giiot £a jyte jf Donne ^difiotTC Bert** I95TL p. 17, %0h» T» Si*a«eros®# ad*« The Cnpplato Poetry of Mil ¥©rle# 1967), SoStaTiS-fio, pp. 311-350. WH» Gardner# Poeroa of mism& nanlfy Hopkins (London, 19615 Sonneta •+*«» pTllSf pTlSs ifeili P. UOi 74t p, U31 122* p. 173* All reference® to theee poem ara taken fross those tm MCi* sonnet and page number will bo indicated in parentheses at the and of each reference. 34 One of «lm aoat atrifcing similarities i» that repe- tition of «ar& I® axtanalvely txaad by both po@fe8» net on* of tha eight Qomzmtm ©f napklna bare @wl#r«3 is wlttomt mmmml «Eawpio«»10 ®na of Dsm»*s eighteen Holy sonwst®* only one doea not «h©v the use of this device. Bopfcine* Sonnat §4 show tract* repetition twice in th» first f 10ixmie aaiitr, "Heptciw* mm sotmeta % hxmthmr New Sxpreeeion,* Victorian geattfr* V <1932), p. IS* 35 mrnn Donne compacts several repetitions into a few lines* he i# more apt then Hopkins to very the form of the repeated word# as in the following examples« The Father having begot a Sonne moat bleet. And still begetting (for he nefer begonns) • • • (Sonnet 172, p. 345) created nature doth these things subdue, But their creator, vhom sin, nor nature tyed, for us, Me creatures# and Ms foes, lath dy#ci. (Sonnet 169, p. 343) Mum is never a® bold in repetition as Hopkins at hi® Most inpatient. Donne again in Sonnet 64i M©? or me that fought him, o Which one? is it eadh one? That slight, that year of now done darkness I vretch lay wrestling with (my Codl) «% God* (Sonnet §4, p* 106) Both Mopfeins and Donne us© assonance and alliteration to stress Important words, to create the appropriate mood for the line, and to ©tr^haslz® fch© unity subsisting under- neath dissimilar things by linking them through sound**1 In 0onne*s lines, That I anly rice, and stand, o*«rthrow mee, •and bend Your force to breafce, blows, burn and sake me new, (Sonnet 171, p. 344) the shyming of tbe opposite word® "facetto" and •optuwiOT* his point that creation and destruction are teofch manifestations of the i&m power of God.12 when mpHim ^walker Gibson* "'Sound and s«m« in G* k« Hopkins,' Modern lamraacre Hates* lxxzxx (1957), p* 99, 12fcorrie, p* it* 3© calls Christ "By peace, r.y parting, creord and strife," the alliteration is "peace" and ••parting" tends to lee sen the importance of their difference and point out their asso- ciation in hie spiritual life. In Sonnet 69 B&pkim* «we of both assonance and alliteration can be seen. Bones built in net flesh filled* blood britww&d the ours#* Self yeast of spirit a dull dough sours« I see *'he lost are lilse thift* and their ecourf® to be A® X ai mine* their sweating stlws, feat «©r«NSt» (sonnet 69, p» 109) Donne typically ifi store restrained, spacing the repetitions of sounds such as he spaces the repetitions of words,*3 And BscMt, our bait men with the® do go@# Rest of their bones* and soules deliveries (sonnet 167# p# 341) Or line & thiefe, vblcb till deathvs doorae fee read# Kishetb hinself daliverd fro® prisonf But daan'd and hal'd to execution * * * (Sonnet 163« p« 339) Ejrperlatott* or the intentional placing of a word in an unusual orcar vithin the> isi coamonly used fey ancient creek and Latin writers both to stress certain •words anwS to indicate strong agitation on the part of the epeaicer»14 This Awdce was quite probably vell-lcwm to ^•^Ibid., p» 87 14rodd K# Bender* iMr&rd Hauler itopfclns (Baltimore 1966), p# 98, 103 • 37 D®no@ andttopKlas* feotti classica l scholars* and It appears mitmu in the poems* Donn© usually «a®s ttypsrbaton for snphasls* as in the following sxanplesi Reason, your <*doirof la bh» we® should defend # « , (sonnst 171* p» 344) Yet grace* if thou repent# thorn canst not lades* {Sonnet 163* p, 339) « « • wen argue yst whether a »an those asm fulfill* (Sonnst 173* p. 345) Although Hopkins also usee such inversion for «BphMls» bet oftan wishes to suggest beidl4eviBSi*t and distress tfereugfrfcygs^r bato n • why EM©t tfiMppaintwmt all X endeavour endf (Sonnet 74» p« 113) Not* 1*11 not* carrion comfort* Despair* not fsast on thee» (bonnet #4* p. 106) My own heart 1st m mom have pity on • • • (sonnet 71, p« 110) Hopkins uses ellipses to indicate a concentrated ana lapftt&eiifc stats of £©#il«f* Hold ttKMi cheap may i#to ne*er hung there * „ * (Sonnst 65* p. 106) Mter a omfmt serves in a nlilrl*ifii • . • (Sonnet 65* p. 106) «®w vouldst thou worse* X tuouder, then tfom lost Defeat* thvart Met (ssnnst 74* p* 113) HupKHi from mm mommAmt Xmmm frequent and usually indicate a concentrated* tight 1 ins of thinking vith sons oeoMional cephasls on errotion, 38 Beauty* ©f pitty, foulness© onely is A eigne of rigour * « « (Sonnet 170# p« 344) • # •feeing mor e pure than Z Staple, and further from corruption. (Sonnet 169# p* 343) wilt thou love God, as he theei (Sonnet 172, p, 345) None of Donne*s ellipses, however, approach the eccentricity of Hopkins* phraee This to hoard unheard, Heard unheeded, leaves me a lonely began. (Sonnet 68, p. 109) in "which, the odd construction of the second "heard* goe® alaaost unnoticed when followed toy the puzsling "began*w Another similarity between the two poet* is their generous use of questions and imperative constructions to add dramatic texture to the poetry. Almost two thirds of Donne's eighteen Holy Sonnets contain either questions or imperatives, and often, both* In fact, two poems contain seven imperatives, and one, seven questions* Hopkins, by comparison, is far sore subdued, for five of his eight poets© contain m questions and five no imperatives $ however, he outdoes Donne by crowding ten questions into Sonnet 64, creating an overwhelmingly frantic and bewildered tone that Bonne seetas too restrained to attempt® In fact, Dowi© uses seven questions in the sonnet in which he discusses in turn nany characteristics of the true church, a far less personal topic than Hopkins* questioning of God*s seeming cruelty to hie in Sonnet 64* 39 Wmm9 far m than Bopfeina* mm tlia dwlee of a catalog of pftsftJAftl conafcru^tlonp- to build anyfcfaaia* Eleven of tte eighteen Holy Sonnets contain uucli aital@gis# ranging frtWB the relaxed and relatival? eiov pace of Sonnet 1771 Ttef mm idolatrous lovwra mump® and mmem§ And vile bt®9$fcmmm am jurors to call cm Jesus wwo* and Phariaaicali DiaaoRfolere feign devotion* (Sonnet 177* f»* 348) feu the rushing abundance of Sowwat. 167, thaift'aurt elaw to rate* dtanee# King©, and dNCNKntM Hii w-w ^jpra^p >*k7P' hrS dost vitls «urr«» and siennas®® dwlli (Sonwt 167« p« 341) e©f&i«s often mrcbifws rapHlkton of twNI ®nd paralleliast of 1,^'^ |p If poyeonous siliiierali©, and if that tmm$ Wim® fruit SesHi an @is« iwaortall u*9 If lactiarotis goats, if aarpmta envious Cannot be dann'di AlISi vljv elicmld X fee? (Sonnet 166, p« 341) H*© pattarna of ©onatrootio**® arc far l@@s aiaple ana regular* hie feamtar la full of tviate and auxpriaeat for he aaldan maintain® the 9mm eoxwtjraetiofs t«iw» sonnet A8 contain* a rara cxaaplt of om of hia catalogs in Donne's mmaxmx* mmm built in s», fleeh filled* blood ferise»d fefygi dir®e» ^fiorris, p. 64* i&Morris, p. 45# 17ftorris, p. 46# 41 v/v/uu/«-> / / And thou like Adanant draw nine iron heart • (Donne, Sonnet 174, p« 346) o u / o V / O / u / Z am gall, I am heartborn. God's most deep <-> / decree • . • (Hopkins, Sonnet 69, p. 109) / ° O / O O / V, / u selfyeast of spirit a dull dough sours* X / see • • . (Hopkins, Sonnet 69, p. 109) The tewpo of a line is considerably slowed by overloading it «ith nonosyllables that heavy stresses \J / u / \ / o / hm yet but knock®p breath©f shine, and secsk© u / to Mud* (Donm*, Sonnet 171» p. 344) / «J / N / \ >J / ^ / All whoa varre, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies * « • (Donne, Sonnet 165, p. 340) \ / u / \ / \ / Eones built in m* flesh filled, blood brismd u / the eurse. (Hopkins, Sonnet 69, p, 109) / \ / VJ / u / u W / 3oul, self I cons, poor Jacksslf, Z do advise . « • (Hopkins, sonnet 71, p« 110) Plaoeoent of the caesura in an unexpected position can also break the regular rhythmic flow*19 Only twice in the Holy sonnets does Donne allow a major pause after the first foots hossver, he often experiments with a pause before the last foot, which, Vhen part of a rw«@v@r line, can enhance a conversational or argumentative tone« ldjHorris, p* 47. 19Worris, p. S3# 42 Talc® mm to you, lapriion me, for X Except you*enthrall me, never shilltea fre e # • # (Sonnet 171# p* 344) me from th® vorld*s beginning and Im Rath asada tvo wills • . • (Sonnet 173, p. 345) Hopfcins is occasionally bold ©nou#* to place a caesura aftar the firat ayllabla of a line* • « • look, and freah wind Bhakes Thwa* Urii build - but net X build • • • (Sonnet 74* p« 113) • • « tho hero whose heaven-handling flung; ^.Jbt dnt JHWI $ m? or me that fought him? (Sonnet 64, p. X06) 0«@ of runover lines alao contribute®® to a broken rhythmic taxtura# And mmeey being eaaio, and ylorioua To God, in bis stern® wrath, why threatens Imm? (Donrle, Sonnet 166. p« 341) Fath*r, part of hia double interest Unto thy Jtingdocie, thy Sonne gi'wea to erne, (Donne, Sonnet 173, p. 345) Fury baa ahriakad *no ling- ering! Let aw ba fall « • • (Hopkins, Sonnet 65* p. 106) & what Made hour® we havw apont ttoia nitffetf what aighta, you, heart, eov « , • (Sonnet 69 § p» 109) neither poet wlees any significant as© of f@»inine rhystea to aeaat® variety of rhythm. Xxi th© Holy sonnets, &OMM mm them only twice, both tinea la the ending couplet? one of Hopkins* eonnete contain® throe feminine rhymoe, "Nat tho other seven contain none* 43 In the area of cnetrics It is again Hopkins who exper- iments the wore, who departs further frcwn traditional metre. His extra syllables are often almost uncomfortably obtrusive. woe, world-sorrowi on an age-old anvil wince and sing. CSonnet 65, p# 106) wretch, under a comfort serves in a whirlwinds all • » • (Sonnet 65, p* 106) X am in Ireland nov» now I am at a third . » « (Sonnet 68, p. 109) Furthermore, he departs drastically from tradition by writing Sonnet 64 entirely in iambic hexameter• An examination and comparison of meter, structure, and syntax of these sonnets shows that both Donne and Hopkins use many of the saroe techniques, but that, in almost all respects, Donne is outstripped in daring and originality by Hopkins, lha younger poet,toy comparison , seems to bombard the reader with alliteration and assonance, unexpected grammatical constructions and difficult metre* Donne exceeds Hopkins in the use of parallel constructions and catalogs, devices for building suspense evenly and, above all, organising a line of arguments Hopkins sustains a mood, not of rationality but of emotional distress, by avoiding parallelisms and breaking his rhythm to indicate a loss of a sense of order. There are several similarities in the types of imagery found in the two sets of sonnets. Both Donne and Hopkins use 44 oetaphors far *rore than similes in their poetry. Diverse images often follow one another breathlessly in Donne's sonnets* I a® thy sonne* made with thy self to shine* Thy servant* whose paines thou hast still repaid. Thy sheepe* thine linage, and till I betray'd My selfe# a teaple of thy Spirit divine. (Sonnet 162* p. 338) Hopkins mixes his metaphors store daringly* but usually avoids the close-packed catalog. Perhaps the most similar passage in his poetas to the ons quoted above is in Sonnet 63. My cries heave* herds~longt huddle in a main* a chief woe* world~sorrowt on an age-old anvil wince and sing «• Then lull* then leave off. (Sonnet 65* p. 106) His suffering in four lines taKes on the character of a person crying* the heaving of waves on the sea or branches on a tree* a huddling herd of aniatals* a piece of iron on an anvil* a person wincing* and a person singing. '.either poet typically constructs hi® religious sonnets so as to be interpreted by on?y one central and controlling iaage. Although in Sonnet 173 x*>nne maintains throughout images only of the law* wills* and the granting of legacies * all of the others draw images fro® various sources• For example* in most of sonnet 163 he compares his soul to two men - the pilgrim and the thief » summoned by sickness* the herald of death* but he ends in a couplet that plays with the paradox that Christ*s red blood can dye souls white. He begins Sonnet 170 by describing the sorrowful face of Christ 45 and than skips to an allusion to his profane mistresses« He asks God if cod*e vork shall decay* bewails hie own wasting* feeble flesh* and then ends with the unexpected solidity of hie "iron heart" which ha aska cod to draw to himself "like Adamant.* Perhaps Sonnet 64 ia Hopkins• closest approach to a poem of a single image* for most of the inagea do contribute to the general isnpreeeion of hie soul in physical combat with God* Yet audi different metaphors are used to croate thia aenae of struggle ae tlie untwisting of the strands of nan* the attack of a lioxtliBfc* devouring eyee* a tempeat* the flying grain on the threshing-floor* and the wrestling wi*h God himself at the conclusion, In Sonnet 70, Hopkins expects the reader to move fro® the imge of patience aa grapes nestling in ivy* to the heart grating on iteelf like metal on Mtal* to God*s kindness being dietilled freai God and suddenly changing into crisp honeycomb®. Both eete of poem are filled with such surprising shifts in afcisospher© and metaphorical point of view that the reader must actively synthesize the tone of the pom fro® a richly changing texture of imago??. The only simile occurring in these eonneta of Hopkins* ie short and quite traditional* And »y lament X* criee countleea* cries like dead letters sent To deareet hi«t that lives alaei atay* (Sonnet 69* p» 109) Dome uses tan similes in his eighteen Holy Sonnets* mmm shorts m and allrn plmmtm mm Um yaatarday, (Sonnet 174# p« 34®5 Had thou &im Mrnmm draw wine iron tmmt* (Sonnet 174# p. 346) and mmm longer ar.e tot® extended* * * «tout a s in nqr idolatrie X eaid t© all propbane udetreeeea# Beauty# of pitty# feolneeee onely ie A eien of rlaoixrt so X mt to thee m vicfced epirita ere horrid tfomm assigned# fMm temmtmmm fmmm aeauree « pltioiia (Sonnet 170, p* 344) Mtiwogh both poet® draw Hem nil their experience* In Choosing ieiages, neither tuaeitat* fee ww a anniffl or **mpmUcm m*4 in m vmmml content# there are wmmxmmlm® certain difference# in tint aowreee of imagery dram upon by each wan*20 HopJeints is noil mmm m a poet *m use® imagery fmn nature bmmmw» in the "t^rrifel® sonnet*" nature iiaagsry i® fMil less tlia» in his othar poetry*22 still there mm mmmml ewwples of 2°JOwiii p# 61* 2%«®©pJsif«t Mil©®* *The M and tdwsly language#" 258S33SO ISEdJOC® VX (1944)# p. 3S6. 2%*isan naligarth, m Study ©f H©p&lw* me of nature#* Victorian Poetry* ¥ (1963)fi p. 81* 47 5mm banks and brakes Now, leaves hov thick I lacked they are again •iith fretty chervil, look, and fresh wind shakes # a « (Sonnet 74, p. 113) >hy? That my chaffrai#*t fly ? ray grain lie sheer and clear. (Sonnet 64* p. 106) Hopkins compares God's smile to the sky between uomstaiiM# the self to yeast, patience to grapes in ivy, the depths of his spirit to roots, God's strength to a lionlinb, himself to gall and heartburn, God's love to crisp honeycomba, the aind to SRowitaiM* It would hm hard to imagine Donna referring to the sweating selves of the darned or the voiding of a shepherd, AS Hopkins does. None of the eight sonnets of ?*opkins are without images drawn from organic life* Donne differs from Hopkins in being comparatively indifferent to the beauty of the natural world.23 His linages from organic life are more emblematic than sensual, and in many ways quite traditional. He compares the church to a dove, the soul to a sheep, sin to decay, lust to fire, and grace to wings. He is no sore original than to call goats lecherous and serpents envious# The mention ©£ poppies add® a bright note to Sonnet 167 but their freshness is almost lost in the list that contains war, chance, fate, kings, sickness and sleep* Donne describes the dumb obedience of the bull, the boar, and the horse, typically concerning 23Coanda, p. 181. 46 himself with an abstract, rather than a concrete quality.24 He dom not lovingly play vith nature images for their own beauty and sensuality, but subordinates them rigorously to the dialetic of the poem* Donna often uses human figures in hi® inagory, but the only times Hopkins makes use of such human analogies occur vhen he compares himself to a shepherd and to the "sots and thralls of lust***' Donne gives us implied comparisons of himself to a drunkard, a thief, a lecherf to lovers, conjurors, dissemblers) to a pilgrim and to a prisoner smiting execution* He compares the church to a womani Christians to adventuring knights t God to m robbed mni reason to a viceroyi Christ to his mistresses, to Jacob, and to a kings and sickness to a herald* It is interesting to find that the results of this comparison of town imagery reflect the lives of the tm poets* Most of Hopkins• experience mm solitary, and he had relatively little experience in dealing with people in his priesthood*s t«o years of mission vork.2* Donne's life, on the other hand# ws full of ©any years of secular experience and vork in lav, politics, and foreign affairs*2? 24Coanda, p* 185* 2sHopkins, sonnet 74, p* 113* Humphrey House, All in tee Time (London, 1955), p« 166* "Edmund oos«e. 2B MfS B2ti &£&S£S B£ MB (GloocMtart 1899). 49 Perhapsfell© contras t totvian the Imagery of Donne and Hopkins ©ay t® batter understood in the light of a discussion of the different philosophic systems in Vhitih the pomte found special mmmning* Dome has been called a paeudo<*ihomist,28 and kmpnim mm particularly influenced by the ideas of mans scotwi#^® Thomas Aquinas and Duns scotua were the respective heads of tvo of the principal schools of philosophy in the Middle Ages. In the system of TXins Scotus, the individuality of an existing thing was essential to it, and thua each constituted an unique species* For Aquinas, influenced by Aristotle, individuals did not have eaaences and their uniqueness sis constituted by accidental properties•30 Furthermore# Aquinas placed his chief etophaais on reason as a means of discovering the truthi scotus insisted on the unity of faith and reason, giving to imagination and intuition an intellective function. 28 Coandaf p. 185# ^Pavid A« Somes, "itopklns and Thoraiaw,- Victorian Poetry* III (1965), p. 271, 30R. J. SchoecK, * Influence and originality in the Poetry of Hopkins," Renascence. IX (1956), p. 81. 3*Dowries, p. 97. 50 fhat Donne seams to adh«r« to JMptinas* tradition can be 32 seen in his tendency to generalise his subject satter. h& v® hew seen* hie imagery doe® not dwell mi details irjrel» mmMife to the basic structure of bis argmsent# Hopkins was attracted to Scotus precisely because th@ philosopher spolte to a sensitivity to the mmmin® "this-noss* of objects utiliii Hopkins had always experienced,33 ife shared with seotixs a belief that individuals must have essences# and the great energy that flows from his poem is created' by this tension between the extreme uniqueness separating all created thing® and the power of God uniting M tbWt nirthearaore# Ttopkin® felt that seotos had corrected the rationalist tendencies in Medieval philosophy* and the high place' that Scotus gave to the iaagiaatlon seened to iSepHisa a hopeful basis on «hich to Integrate his religion and his art* an effort irihich his vocatiim to the Jesuit priesthood often made difficult*35 His imagery consequently delights in the cmncMrife* and unique rather than the abstract and general» Although the effectiveness of his descriptive detoura is unquestioned, their thessatle appropriateness to his subject natter has ^OoanAa* p* liS* 3}DwnMi| p« 271# ^Goanda* p. H7» 3W» p. 271, 51 been challenged*36 Hopkins was no longer operating under the mMwml doctrine of analogies in nature m a notara for his images $ 37 consequently the relationshipfcetwtsn patienc e and grapes* for example* depends lees upon logic than upon the personal associative imagination of the reader* Death and penitence stand out as major themes in Donne's Holy bonnets* of the eighteen poems* only seven are without any explicit reference either to his death or the death of Christ* iiis avareness of the many ways death can strike is shown in sonnets 165 and 167* in which he catalogs no less than sixteen cau®«© of death* His fear of death in not a fear of annihilation or physical suffering* hut a fear of damnation* In mmmt 163 the pilgrim to whict* his dying mml is coiapared is afraid hecmmm he has done treason* and thus fears puni®te»»iit upon return to hi# t*©s»laiad* In the saute sonnet* the prisoner fearing execution is described* and the next line presents the consolation Donne offers to his fear* "But grace* if thou repent* thou canst isefc lack* < sonnet 163* p, 341)* sonnet 164 describes the fear with which Donne's soul will see the face of Ourist in death* He explains* in Sonnet 169* that animals do not fear death mn they ham S^Yvok winters* w Poetry of Gerard Ktnisy Hopkins (XX)*M Hudson sevi««r» XI (1948)* p. 70-72* 37J* Hillis filler, The creation of the self in oerard l^aniey Hopltiti#** jjtTOli Hi MAltl MMHB SlSS2£X» XXIX (1935)* p* 302* 52 not sinned* Iturn ho asks himself how lie would feel if it war® tli® last night of the world, his first thought is to asditate en Christ*s sufferings to lessen his own fotre. only in sonnet 174 doss ha seem to exhibit a fear of death itself, describing his din eyes, his feeble flesh, his despair, and reminding hiwelf that God's work can never decay, ¥®t his flesh in the poem is not mad© feeble by physical suffering, but by sin. In general, Donne does not dwell on the actual mmmnt of death but leaps an instant beyond it to the vision of Christ and his judgment, and it is there that his feaw find their focus* Donne•» sense of his own sinfulness is therefore clearly linked to his feelings about death* His sins pass the Jews* inpiety, even the aniraals are more pure than he, and he cannot sustain himself arm hour front temptation. His heart is iron, his lust and envy foul, his soul black, his devotion only a fitful fever* Sojaetiww, however# ha mmtens to por- tray himself as a relatively Innocent soul captured by the devil* Hhy doth the devil than vrnxapm in ami . 'Why doth he steals, nay ravish that's thy right? (Sonnet 162, p. 338) Yet dearly* X love you, and would be loved faine. But a»to©throth #dunt o your mummy* (Sonnet 171, p. 344) Although it is possible that Donne is only using the character of the devil to represent the evil part of his 53 nature, a literal belief in the devil vea not unacMnnon in the seventeenth century* An even more curious departure from lila customary a«l f-deba«a»ent la exhibited in Sonnet 177, In lAtidh ha wonders whether the departed souls are deceived toy outvard signs into thinking that blaaphemera and idolaters are more devout than Donne, who la leaping ever the mouth of hell eo valiantly* It la strange to hear hl« wondering* "itow ahall ay windes niiite troth by the® fee tryedT* CSefawt 177, p# 348), and make# Dorm© sound aa extravagant in his pride aa in hla humility. Hopfcins writes of death mich leas frequently than Donne | Sonnet 122 contains a referenceraost siedla r to Donne*® attitude. But aan - vs» scaffold of aeore brittle bonesi Who breathe# from groundlong babyhood to hoary Age gaspf whose breath Is our caoaiento marl * . • (Sonnet %WTp* 173) He laments hla mortality, but dvells on physical decay and does not oast hla vi«v paat death to any sort of judgment or eternity* IlaeVhere, after describing lntenae spiritual suffering# he comforts hlmelf vith the reminder that *all/ Life death does end and each day dies with sleep" (Sonnet 65» p9 10® ^viewing death aa an end to suffering rather than aa the possible gate to hell* Xn Sonnet 64 he struggle® against a temptation to kill hiaMlf—to "untvlet these last stranda of nan** (sonnet 64« p* 106). Here death is so attractive to hla that he nut gather all his strength to resist its 54 offarad comfort, m ©titer references to death appaar in thaae poems, bat sonmt 70 contains Ms only mmtl&n of lift aftar daeths hs aeea that the lost aoale gaffer asora In hall than ha do®® on aMurttfr~4UMt)i0r roaaon parhapa to resist suicide. In the ©am poms ha nakae hia moat vivid referanca to hia oim ainfttiittstt *s®Xfy©fuat of spirit • dull <3on#i coura,1 tscmmt 70, p, 110} a usa af tha traditional Biblical inaga H of tha "laavan of aalica and vicfce %«nn#r w# Alllaon* *f1lop1?in®, I mm htm psgt TUB FELL or »8I," Ea»lieator* XVII (1954), p» 54. 39ms* 55 GCMS» la two poexao lie calls Mtaaelf a wretch (Sonnet ©4# p. 3.06 and Sonnet 65* p. 106)* but since both of these poena concentrate on his great unhappiness it is not clear that ha is not siwply calling M&taelf pitiful rather than wicked. Hopkins doee not see himaelf as sinful aerauch a s useless* unfruitful* lonely* and above all* desperately miserable• He in time's eunuch* vho cannot accomplish even as nuch m a bird that builds a neat} there is no worst to the Buffering which lie mmt endure* and ha finds it his fate to live @e a stranger among strangers. Host discouraging of all* even Ms dwtiml teaapests seem km® and petty#40 Hopkins write® in the presisent* doscribing Ms issnediate and various mode with introspective eubtlety* and beseech- ing Q©<3 to give Mm preeent relief fro*n Ma present tarmat* Mn@i on the other hand* writes often in apprehension of the future judgment and in laiaentation for Ms sins of the past. Donne's introspection is primarily limited to the ©oral estate of M® soul* and lie b©se@ches (Sod not only for present grace for repentance but for future atercy at his death» It is generally accepted that Hopkins* view of God is concentrated on His iwiaiswice* His continual ami 40No«nan II* MacKtmscie* Hopkins (Edinburgh* 1968)* p. 96. S€ Racraraental presence in tin* and spate® and in every uniquely created thing#*1 In Donne's tins* However, the sacrawental presence of Christ in the eudharist arid consequently His iiasanenco in creation tree being de-emphasiaed by the effects of the Protestant Reformation,*2 Furthermore, the Anglican doctrine of contrition idtich was accepted in tim insisted that sorrov for «ins that sprang from fear of punishment was not sufficient for salvation without the motivation of low of Cod.*3 flw» Donne was tm&mr a pres- sure to feel love for and gain nercy from an increasingly transcendent deity* and it la not surprising that his attitude to God has been compared to that of the terrified Petrarchan suiter.*4 Hi® image of Christ as a lover, however, does not predominate in the Holy sonnetsf the ntrongest irnage is that of Christ as redeemer of fnanfcind and victor over sin and death.*5 *3>1iMNMs p. McDonnell# "mpKim mm a sacrawental Poeti1 ^sjaasaaEs* xxv p. 28-33. ^Margaret. h» Blanchard, •"The Leap into Dmrkiwssi Semite# mtkmet» and Cod,** renascence, XVII (1964), p. 49* *%# L. Peterson, "John Donne •« KOMf SONHBVS and the Anglican i>octrine of Contrition," StyAim. is Philology. LVI (1959), p. 506-507. **rianchard, p# 46. *%!olen Gardner, John Donne (Snglewood Cliffs, 1962), p. 136. 57 Hopkins, on the other hand, csakee no reference to tf*® redemption of Christ in hie sonnet®, God »ay toe deliciously kind, or a terrible adversary, but there is no icention off the fact that he too suffered and in fact died for the sins of ram# Although curiously similar in cany elements of construction and style, Donne's poesss are we clearly didactic than iiopkins*, built more upon the bones of Christian dogssa. Few of his sonnets are so personal that they could not describe the feelings of any devout and penitent christian. '£toe reader, however, does not identify vith iiopkins* poetry through a cooxson religion, but through a ccwanon cuaotional experience, that of unconxnonly intense spiritual and mental suffering* it 1« as if Oonne is beseeching the presence of God, while Hopkins, even in his greatest suffering, is always experiencing that prose ice. ^Xt is interesting to note that, in the theological systs® of Dun® Scotua, th© Incarnation warn not primarily an act of reparation for the sins of man but indeed would haw occurred whether nan had einned or not* Dovne>s» p. 98. 58 BIB XJ0G8AFRY 8©®l» £*»fer# Todd K«t mmzd maHtnf meiklm* Baltiimm$ ~ A PWII HI'f liWWW^Wf JIJ« WIU'PJI'R 'UlUllllUW John Hopkins Press# 19667 8vw«» wot, agiiii. mmi J# MjsM mmmi* mm York* iums aria Mobm# 19e6« CNunlasr* mien* Jdhn aonnw* Snalevood Cliff®# M«r Jersey# prentice-Hall#Xnc»» 1W2. oardner# w. iu# ed,# pojMMi offifflarfl tiHiftX USE^HS * London# oxford university Press# llHl# cosse, Bdmund# tt* life ami tatfcawi of John Donne, W ^ -WMVHI^MPP ip^jiPMtWjpiPPPWf *piw^ ww^FxT^ w— Gloucester# Massachusetts» Peter smitha # 1930 • 'Hons## Hunphrey# Mi £a JUS El—* i4*nd©«, Rupert Hart-Davis# 1955* Xtrait-Husain# fig tiyatlcai flmmrnm £a „ |£ 2| sc^Rl^ntfrb&iifcury* Sdlnbur#*# Oliver & Johnson# Wendell story# Gerard hanlev Hopkins» 2|g Poet M Victorian* mm York# CornellPwmms IwT MacKenzie# Worsen &•# Hopkins* Edinburgh# Oliver & Boyd# 196® • Morris* »avid# T£jg Poetry jgf Gerard Manley naMHopkinms §gi X» * n»"s iMUMBlf^ Bern* A« fnndt* AG Verlag,ag## 1911* shawcross, John T., ad., £he c«n>leta SSO&tt S£ )»&» tW> Ntw fork# Doufoleday# If@7# 59 articles Wli«on» Alexander "Hopkins* I WAKE AND FEEL THE FEU, Of 0MR," XVII imr, IfSt), 54, Blanchard, Margaretft, , *The Leap into DiiXnessi Donne, Herbert, and God,w Renascence. xvxx (rail* 1964), 3S-50, coanda, Richard, -Hopkins and Bonnet Mystic and Metaphysical. ** XX (suwner, 1957), 180-137, Dowmm, David A,, Hopkins and Thesis®," Mctfcorian Poetrv. XII (winter, 1905), 270*272, ^ #T Gibson, walker, -sound and smmm in G, M, Hopkins," l»tfOT JftBMUflft !»«!• 3UOCII (M**Ch, 1937), 180*187« ttallgarth, Susan, "A study of ifopki*®s Use of feature,* Victorian gpgftgg* V (Sumner, 1967), 79*92. Jennings, Elisabeth* *if» unity of Incarnation, - Dublin Review. CCXXXIV (sumr, 1960), 170-184, MclAthan, Hwrtevt Marshall, -The Analogical Mirrors,- Keimm Keviev. VI (suraaer, 1944), 322, Mile®, Josephine, -The sneefc and lovely iMnmmmiti" Kenvon VI (Sumser, 1944), 355-368, ' Miller, J, Kill is J, -The Creation of the Self in Gerard Manley Hopkins,- Journal of gnaileii literary History, xxix C»ee«BteerfTf5fl7 293-319, ' Peterson, B, L«, -John Donne's Holy Sonnets and the Anglican Doctrine of contrition,- Mfeiilgflsin railolomr. tvi (JUly, 1959), 504*518, , aider, Louis, napkins' mm Sonnetsi Another mm Expression,- Vlcfo^an Poetrv. V (Spring, 1967), 13-20. Sc&»@ck, A, J,, "influencefi. originalit y in the Poetry of Hopkins,-ftenaacence. » (winter, 1956), 77*84, winters, Yvor, "The Poetry of Gerard Kanley Hopkins (X),- Hudson aeview. X (Autunn, 1948), 455*476,