Herbert or Hopkins?

How many poets does it take to change a light bulb?
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jisbell00
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Thu Jun 08, 2023 6:33 am

And now two poets linked less in time than in faith. I thought that could be interesting! Also, both are about birds. :)

Easter Wings, BY GEORGE HERBERT

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
Though foolishly he lost the same,
Decaying more and more,
Till he became
Most poore:
With thee
O let me rise
As larks, harmoniously,
And sing this day thy victories:
Then shall the fall further the flight in me.

My tender age in sorrow did beginne
And still with sicknesses and shame.
Thou didst so punish sinne,
That I became
Most thinne.
With thee
Let me combine,
And feel thy victorie:
For, if I imp my wing on thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me.


The Windhover, BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
To Christ our Lord

I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
Macavity
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Thu Jun 08, 2023 6:55 pm

This is an easy one John. The iconic Hopkins is so much fun to read 👍
jisbell00
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Thu Jun 08, 2023 7:02 pm

I read the Hopkins to the Mrs and she liked it a good deal! Herbert is great though, he has a certain limpidity. I'm glad both poets exist, but especially glad for Hopkins ... and he wanted to destroy his poetry.

Cheers,
John
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Leaf
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Thu Jun 08, 2023 7:30 pm

Birds! ... Birds! ... Birds! ... (^v^)

Members of Coo & Co show up and are excited. We think we've seen 'Easter Wings' somewhere before. It's probably of its time in many ways, not least the spelling. The rising larks are pleasant, but we don't understand 'imp' in this context. It's fun to scan the rhythm, though. We once created a poem in the shape of a shed, but I'm not sure what we did with it. Tea and biscuits were involved, we recall (^v^)

Now, Hopkins. I think I've only ever read one of his poems, which might have ended with 'My God' twice. It was Eng. Lit. again. Mr Beal decided it would be fun to go around the class and see whether anyone would be able to read the poem all the way through without having some sort of problem. I didn't get the opportunity to try, as one girl tripped up yet kept going anyway. Mr Beal was lenient, so he didn't really care (^v^)

We like the presence of birds in both poems (^v^)

Cheerie,
F & (^v^)
jisbell00
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Thu Jun 08, 2023 7:36 pm

"We like the presence of birds in both poems (^v^)" - quite rightly! I can't help but assume that is Word-Bird speaking.

Mr Beal sounds like a sort. I hope the students didn't feel picked on, but rather part of a challenge. Hopkinsi s hard to read and I flubbed at least once this morning reading to the Mrs. But he is tremendous. Here's another, also lovely but with fewer birds, I'm afraid: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/ ... ied-beauty

Interesting character, Hopkins. He was a priest, you know.

Cheerie,
John
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Leaf
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Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:28 pm

That is indeed W.-B.! (^v^)

Mr Beal was a reasonable teacher, I think. He was quite relaxed about the challenge he'd set, laughing as his pupils groaned. Thank-coos for the link. Hopkins appears to be on something of a holy high, which intrigues. I think I knew he was a priest; Mrs T might have mentioned that. She has a nice little set of Penguins providing information about most of the well-known poets. "By 'Penguins', FT means Penguin books," Coo helpfully clarifies (^v^)

Cheerie,
F & (^v^)
jisbell00
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Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:45 pm

Woo-hoo, W.-B.!

Now a set of penguins providing helpful information could be a splendid thing to have! Well done, Mrs T! And W.-B., of course. :)

Here is Gerard Manley Hopkins. Holy high sounds about right: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Manley_Hopkins

Cheerie,
John
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Leaf
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Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:12 pm

Woo-hoo indeedy (^v^)

We would appreciate such a set of penguins here at Coo & Co. And thank-coos for the link to Prof. Wiki. Currently we're reading about James VI and I; we watched the telly programme, but it didn't cover much in 45 minutes. The next episode is about King Charles I (*v*)

Cheerie,
F & (^v^)
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Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:45 am

hi John

I was wondering why I have a disconnect with the Herbert poem, probably my lack of Christian belief. Punishing sin with sicknesses seems perverse to me. Or am I misreading?

Bw

Phil
jisbell00
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Sat Jun 10, 2023 5:06 am

I think he's looking for theodicy, as C17th folks liked to. Weird for us, but urgent for them - faith and grace and suffering. There was the plague in 1665.

Not my fave Herbert poem: I read his collected and it was simlpe and limpid, like a cool glass of water. Nothing else quite like it that I know. Better than Marvell IMO.

Oh - tomorow, maybe Hardy and Owen? Poe at some point!

Cheers,
John
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