Hopkins "Pied Beauty"

Psalm 19:1-6 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." Although some would suggest that writing about nature first became popular in the Romantic Age, this Psalm was written centuries before the Romantic Age, and displays the beauty of God's creation. Centuries later, a Jesuit priest, Gerald Manley Hopkins, wrote poetry reminiscent of the psalms, displaying how God fit into the actions of the current time. In the poem "Pied Beauty," Hopkins reflects on the changes of the Industrial Revolution, showing, both through form and content, that although the focus has shifted from nature to industry, God is the creator of everything and should be praised for the beautiful variety of it all.

The form of the poem is, in itself, pied, which essentially means jumbled. The poem's rhyme and meter, as well as line structure, are fairly standard and seem planned, although they are not completely predictable. This mirrors the statement that Hopkins is making about God, that He is an organized God, yet we cannot predict what He is going to do with the course of the world, and this is what makes life beautiful. The rhyme scheme that Hopkins uses emphasizes the fact that God is perfect and orderly, but not predictable. While Hopkins is known for often using assonance, the end rhyme of each line in "Pied Beauty" is perfect rhyme, not near rhyme. On the other hand, the pattern he uses is unique and unpredictable. The poem starts with the words "Glory be to god," and ends with "Praise him," giving it the feeling of a hymn verse. Like many hymns, it also is written in sprung rhythm which mimics natural speech and is "closer to music than is any other form of verse" (Deutsch, 170). Although the poem has the feel of a hymn verse, it does not use the a-b-a-b pattern. It starts out a-b-c-a-b-c, but then goes to d-b-c-d-e. This variation gives it an element of unpredictability, mimicking God's unpredictability in nature.

The rhyme scheme is actually part of a larger plan of Hopkins to make the poem somewhat like a sonnet, only shorter. This special sonnet is called the "curtal sonnet" and was invented by Hopkins ("Curtal Sonnet," Wikipedia). It is essentially ¾ of a traditional sonnet, where each piece of the poem has been proportionately shortened. This shortening shows how Hopkins was representing God's position in the changes happening during the time. It was during the Second Industrial Revolution, when industry was further replacing the agricultural economy. Hopkins changes the fourteen line sonnet by cutting it to ten and a half lines, much like how the Industrial Revolution streamlined processes, so that things were done in a much shorter time. Rather than shifting into free-verse though, Hopkins maintains a sonnet-like rhyme scheme, which is very organized, imitating God's perfectly organized control of the universe. He ends with a two-syllable line; the brevity of this line adds emphasis to the words, "Praise Him," showing that Hopkins wanted to emphasize the importance of praising God for all of the beauty the poem describes, as well as for changes that were happening in society. The line before the powerful finish, "Praise Him," tells the reader who to praise, and that is "He fathers-forth whose beauty if past change." This emphasizes the importance of praising God, even in the midst of the uncomfortable changes of the Industrial Revolution, because He is the one thing in life that will always be the same.

While Hopkins describes all of the beautiful things on earth that God has created, he creates a poem equally beautiful. Kevin Heller explains, "God created 'brinded cows' the 'couple-colour' of the sky, and Hopkins creates beautiful sounds, such as 'Fresh firecoal chestnut falls; finches wings.'" This example of four "f" sounds in line 4 is not the only time in the poem that Hopkins uses alliteration to create beautiful music with his words; in fact it is in almost every line. In line 2, he alliterates the "c" sound with "couple-colour as a brinded cow," and then in line 5, "plotted and pieced, fold fallow, and plow," there is alliteration of both the "p" and "f" sound. In the second half of the poem, line 8 has an alliterated "f" sound again with "fickle, freckled," and then line 9 has both "s" and "d" alliteration, "swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim." The poem flows with alliteration, making it sound beautiful, highlighting the beauty of what God has created.

Any poet can make a poem sound beautiful, but Hopkins is truly talented in his ability to combine form and content to make a beautiful poem which appeals to the reader's ear and intellect. In her article, "Poetic genesis, the self, and nature's things in Hopkins," Rebecca Boggs tells how Hopkins often wrote critiques of poetry. Boggs explains that, as a critic, it was Hopkins opinion that, "For a poem to have either beautiful words or a beautiful content is not enough; good poetry must have both." Hopkins creates beautiful content in "Pied Beauty," particularly emphasizing the variety of beauty that is in God's world. He uses a plethora of worlds that all give a connotation of the variety in nature- words such as "dappled," "couple-colored," "brinded," and "freckled." The poem is rich with striking visual imagery. For instance, the way he describes "Landscape plotted and pieced- fold, fallow, and plough," one can almost see checkerboard-like farm land, as if from a bird's-eye view. He also uses figurative language to give life to these images, such as in line 3, "For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim." The word "stipple" refers to a painting technique used to make spots; using this word to describe the colored spots on trout makes it seems as if it is God who has physically painted these creatures.

There is a shift in focus from line 5 to line 6; in the first five lines he is talking about things in nature, and then in line 6 he adds industry to the end of his list of dappled things to praise God for. This shift in focus represents the change that was occurring at the time with the Industrial Revolution. People were beginning to move out of nature, away from the farms, and into more urbanized cities, as working in factories and in other mechanical trades became the most efficient means to support their growing families. Hopkins also includes several words associated with change, including line 7, "All things counter, original, spare, strange," and then in the next line he says, "Whatever is fickle." The American Heritage Dictionary defines "fickle" as "erratic changeableness or instability," which certainly characterizes the Industrial Revolution. It is important to note that Hopkins lists "all trades, their gear and tackle and trim," among the list of dappled things to which he is saying "Glory be to God for," because not everyone was thankful for the changes that had occurred. While the Industrial Revolution meant employment for many, the jobs "were often under strict working conditions with long hours of labour dominated by a pace set by machines" ("Industrial Revolution," Wikipedia). The changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution were met with controversy, as many did not want to accept what it took away from nature, and what it did to society. Other poets of the time, such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote poetry as a call to action for society to do something about the ills caused by the shift to industry. Hopkins, on the other hand, chooses not to focus on the ills; he simply points out that God is good regardless, and this is His world. For all that the good, as well as the bad, we are to praise Him, as the second stanza clearly outlines:

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

There is a hymn that says "This is my Father's world, O let me ne'er forget, that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet." In many ways, this is the implication at the heart of what Hopkins is expressing. While the changes of the Industrial Revolution may have made people uncomfortable with the feeling of instability, Hopkins reminds people that God is in control. He is the creator of all the "pied beauty" in the universe, and that alone is worth praising Him for. Although God's ways are not predictable, they are superior.

Works Cited
Boggs, Rebecca Melora Corinne. "Poetic genesis, the self, and nature's things in Hopkins.
(Gerard Manley Hopkins)." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 37.n4 (Autumn 1997): 831(26). Student Edition. Thomson Gale. Ventura Library - Black Gold. 19 Sep. 2006
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Deutsch, Babette. Poetry Handbook: A Dictionary of Terms. 4th ed. New York:
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"fickle." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
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HELLER, KEVIN. "Hopkins's PIED BEAUTY.(Gerard Manley Hopkins)(Brief
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