The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Oxford Paperbacks) [Paperback]

G. M. Hopkins (Author), W. H. Gardner (Editor), N. H. MacKenzie (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 1976 | ISBN-10: 0192810944 | ISBN-13: 978-0192810946 | Edition: 4

Fourth ed. based on the First ed. of 1918 and enl. to incorporate all known Poems and Fragments. Ed. with additional notes, a Foreword on the Revised Text, and a new biographical and critical introd. by W.H. Gardner and N.H. MacKenzie.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A very useful edition of the poems, together with extracts from the diaries, letters, sermons and devotional writings. Also a helpful, unfussy introduction and good notes. It forms a good introduction ti a poet whom many students find difficult.' Dr. S. M. Smith, Nottingham University.

'anyone doing detailed work on Hopkins's poetry is now likely to consult Poetical Works, for as well as carrying the authority of the diligence that has gone into its preparation, it offers an unmatched wealth of information ... most scholars interested in Hopkins's poetry will probably be delighted with the results of this mammoth editorial project and will want the set' Diana L. Austin, University of New Brunswick, English Studies in Canada, March 1993

About the Author

Alice Jenkins is lecturer in the department of English at the University of Glasgow --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 426 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 4 edition (March 18, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192810944
• ISBN-13: 978-0192810946
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #577,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Francis (Frank) McAloon is Assistant Professor of Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He's a Hopkins scholar and loves teaching Christian spirituality and Hopkins. One of the courses he teaches is: Prayers, Poetry, and Hopkins.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All creatures as of infinite value and infinitely precious., June 29, 2001

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

THE POEMS OF GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS. Fourth Edition based on the First Edition of 1918 and enlarged to incorporate all known poems and fragments. Edited by W. H. Gardner and N. H. Mackenzie. 362 pp. Oxford and New York : Oxford University Press, 1970. ISBN 0-19-281094-4 (pbk.)

For anyone who is interested in Hopkins, and everyone should be, this is the standard and authoritative edition. It gives us the only complete and accurate text which for the first time puts the poems in their true chronological order.

The poems have been arranged in four sections : Early Poems (1860-1875?); Poems (1876-1879); Unfinished Poems, Fragments, Light Verse, &c. (1862-89); Translations, Latin and Welsh Poems, &c. (1862-67). The book contains a useful and informative Introduction and Foreword, and is rounded out with very full Notes, a series of Appendices, and Indexes of titles and first lines. It is also beautifully printed on excellent paper, stitched, and bound in a sturdy glossy wrapper.

Hopkins had a unique sensibility, and brought something very special and of great value into English poetry. He seems to have had the ability to enter into the intelligence and feelings and spirit of all life forms, whether animal or plant or even landscape, to resonate with the indwelling divinity within them, and to somehow magically bring the miracle of their vibrant being over into his poems.

Hopkins is in fact a striking example of the fully human sensibility as described in the works of Heidegger and the great thinkers of the East, and exemplifies a quality of sensibility which most of us seem somehow to have lost. We skate dully and blindly over the surface of things, but Hopkins plunges into the depths of being and carries us along with him. In other words, he puts us back in touch with reality, with what life is really about. Hence his enormous value and importance.

In a complete collection such as this, there are bound to be many poems that fall short of greatness. For the newcomer to Hopkins, one suggested approach might be to first read some of his greatest poems, poems such as 'God's Grandeur,' 'Spring,' 'The Windhover,' 'Pied Beauty,' 'The Caged Skylark,' 'Binsey Poplars,' 'As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame.'

There are many beauties to enjoy in Hopkins - his unique use of language, his control of sound and rhythm, his amazing images and metaphors - but for me the most beautiful thing of all is the news he brings, news of a universe in which all things are of infinite value and infinitely precious, and in which no creature is of any less value than another because all are indwelt by divinity:

"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_" (p.90).

Hopkins makes us acutely aware of our loss, and our crime. His poems map out a path back to a saner, more balanced, and more wholesome and intelligent way of dwelling on the earth, dwelling lightly upon it with all other creatures and as its guardian, not its ravager.

"O if we but knew what we do / When we delve or hew - / Hack and rack the growing green! / ... After-comers cannot guess the beauty been...' (pp.78-9).

Hopkins, I think, would have been very much in agreement with Heidegger who tells us that the earth must once again become a _Spielraum_ , a space of great beauty in which to play, and one in which all creatures, instead of being treated as mere objects, are allowed to do what they came here to do, to develop the full potential of their natures and fulfill themselves as manifestations of divinity. His poems are unforgettable, and one envies those who may be coming to them for the first time.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful volume of a wonderful poet, May 18, 2000

By 

Liz Foster - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

The first poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins I read was "PiedBeauty," which was included in a book of poetry for children thatwas given to me by my great-aunt. In high school, I read "Spring and Fall: to a young child" and loved it, though I did not realize it was by the same author. It was only college that I connected the two, and discovered a wonderful poet, who has become one of my favorites.

For a fan of Hopkins looking for an authoritative volume, this edition is a treasure. In addition to his better known works, it contains early poems, numerous fragments, and unfinished works, in fact "every scrap of English verse which can be ascribed... to Hopkins" (from the Introduction xvii). In addition, it contains a good essay on Hopkins and his work, and extensive textual notes.

Hopkins poetry may appear obscure and difficult at first, and in fact it is, at times, wildly original. Hopkins' language is deliberately archaic and inventive, and he both revives wonderful words not used since Shakespeare, and makes up his own. Hopkins also writes in "sprung rhythm," a metrical style that is almost syncopated, and juxtaposes stressed syllables. I recommend reading his poems out loud. The sheer beauty of his language will inspire you to recite the words over and over again, until you understand his meaning: the essence which he is trying to distill. New readers may be daunted by this volume at first, and find that Hopkins' great poems are "submerged in a mass of less significant fragments" (Intro xiv). I would suggest his sequence of ten sonnets (#31-40) as an ideal place to start reading.

Hopkin's friend and fellow poet Robert Bridges wrote that Hopkins strove "for the unattainable perfection of language," and at times he seems to have actually obtained it: "Men go by me whom either beauty bright / In mould or mind or what not else make rare: / They rain against our much-thick and marsh air / Rich beams, till death or distance buys them quite." (The Lantern out of Doors, #40). END

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ??? on Kindle 3, September 13, 2010

By 

Robert Hoeppner (Southwick, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Kindle Edition)

Many lines on my Kindle 3 have rectangular boxes containing questions marks prepended. So "The Wreck of the Deutschland" looks something like

???????????????Thou mastering me
??????????God! giver of breath and bread;
?????World's strand, sway of the sea;
??????????Lord of living and dead;
???Thou hast bound bones and veins in me, fastened me flesh,
???And after it almost unmade, what with dread,
?????Thy doing: and dost thou touch me afresh?
Over again I feel thy finger and find thee.

There are some poems where this doesn't happen at all, and others where it regularly occurs. I think the ?s represent spaces for formatting indentations. It would be nice if there were a way to either filter the ?s out or convert them to spaces. Given a relatively low price, and given that this seems to be a comprehensive collection of Hopkins' poetry, 3 stars seems a fair rating.