Pied BeautyPied Beauty

By Gerard Manley HopkinsBy Gerard Manley Hopkins

By Eiliyah YeoBy Eiliyah Yeo

The PoemThe PoemGlory be to God for dappled things –Glory be to God for dappled things –

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;

And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.All things counter, original, spare, strange;All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:Praise him.Praise him.

Listen to the poem

Hopkins was born in England in Hopkins was born in England in 1844 and died in 1889. This 1844 and died in 1889. This poem was published in 1918, poem was published in 1918, some forty-one years after some forty-one years after Hopkins wrote it in 1877, the Hopkins wrote it in 1877, the year he became a Jesuit priest. year he became a Jesuit priest.

His distinctive and innovative His distinctive and innovative poetry found fame after his poetry found fame after his death rather than during the death rather than during the English Victorian age in which English Victorian age in which he lived, when more traditional he lived, when more traditional verse was popular and perhaps verse was popular and perhaps more acceptable to the more acceptable to the Victorian palate. Victorian palate.

The PoetThe Poet

By Eiliyah YeoBy Eiliyah Yeo

ANALYSIS

Voice: any person in the world

Structure: circular structure

2 stanzas

Alliteration: the poem is full of alliterativePhrases which call the reader’s attention.

STANZA 1

Glory be to God for dappled things – 

The speaker says that we should give glory to God for having created "dappled," or spotted things."Glory be to God" is a way of giving praise. Often it is sung in church hymns.In fact, the "hymn to creation" is a popular genre of hymn, which gives praise to God for all the things He has created. The speaker points to "dappled" things in particular.

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

The speaker gives examples of "dappled things." In this poem, at least, "dappled" refers to things with multiplied colors.He uses the anaphora “for” to introduce all the things he is thankful for

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

The small light-reddish dots or "rose-moles" on the side of trout are another example of "dappled things.""Stipple" is a technique in arts like drawing, painting, and sewing, to create texture through the use of small dots.

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;

And here come two more hyphenated words, along with two more examples of "dappled things." The first example is "Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls.""Chestnut-falls" is not too hard to imagine. It refers to chestnuts that have fallen off the chestnut tree. But "Fresh-firecoal" requires some background on nuts. When they are on a tree, chestnuts are covered by a spiky, light-green covering, but the nuts themselves are reddish-brown. When the nuts fall, they are "fresh" from the tree. Because of the contrast of red nuts with their outer covering, they look like the burning of coals inside a fire.

Landscape plotted and pieced--fold, fallow, and plough;

Another dappled thing: the English landscape, divided up into different "plots" and "pieces" for farming and raising livestock.A "fold" is a fenced-in area for sheep, "fallow" describes a field that has been left empty, and the "plough" is a tool used to turn over the topsoil before planting crops.The speaker is also using a lot of alliteration, and "plotted/pierced" and "fold/fallow" are examples from this line.Finally, the speaker makes no distinction between untouched parts of nature and the parts that have been adapted by humans. According to the speaker, farming is a part of God's creation.

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

The speaker widens his focus from a single trade, or skilled job – farming – to all trades/ jobs.The words "gear and tackle and trim" point to fishing, sailing, and clothes-making, among other jobs.In this line, the dappled or spotted appearance of things becomes a metaphor for variety and mixture.

Stanza 2

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

The speaker expands and elaborates upon his list of things for which to praise God.He uses adjectives to describe their qualities.The items in the list are characterized by their uniqueness. They are "counter" to what is normal; they are original, they are "spare" and don't appear in great numbers; and they are "strange" or unusual.

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

This line gives two more adjectives to add to our main adjective, "dapple."They begin with the same letter: "fickle" means something that changes a lot, and "freckled" returns to the topic of spots or dots.The speaker voices his private wonder at how all these things acquired their "pied beauty.“ (original, colourful beauty)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

Three pairs of opposites: fast and slow, sweet and sour, and bright ("adazzle") and dim.Think of a slice of sugary lemon cake, which is both sweet and sour.

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

The speaker says that God is the "father" of all these beautiful things, but his own beauty never changes.According to Christian thought, God remains the same even as the world he created constantly shifts and flows.

Theme: Relationship between man and nature Thanking God for all His beatuful creations. Religion Awe and Amazement at such natural creations

Tone: Amazed, thankful, happy, glad, pleased

Metaphors:

Similes:

Imageries:

Alliteration:

SummarySummary

• The speaker says we should glorify God because he has The speaker says we should glorify God because he has given us dappled, spotted, freckled, checkered, given us dappled, spotted, freckled, checkered, speckled, things. (This poem says "dappled" in a lot of speckled, things. (This poem says "dappled" in a lot of different ways.)different ways.)

• The speaker goes on to give examples. We should The speaker goes on to give examples. We should praise God because of the skies with two colors, like a praise God because of the skies with two colors, like a two-colored cow. And the little reddish dots on the side two-colored cow. And the little reddish dots on the side of trout. And the way fallen chestnuts look like red of trout. And the way fallen chestnuts look like red coals in a fire. And the blended colors of the wings of a coals in a fire. And the blended colors of the wings of a finch (a kind of bird). And landscapes divided up by finch (a kind of bird). And landscapes divided up by humans into plots for farming. And for all the different humans into plots for farming. And for all the different jobs that humans do. jobs that humans do.

By Eiliyah YeoBy Eiliyah Yeo

• In short, the speaker thinks we should praise In short, the speaker thinks we should praise God for everything that looks a bit odd or God for everything that looks a bit odd or unique, everything that looks like it doesn't unique, everything that looks like it doesn't quite fit in with the rest. quite fit in with the rest.

All these beautiful, mixed-up, ever-changing All these beautiful, mixed-up, ever-changing things were created or "fathered" by a God who things were created or "fathered" by a God who never changes. The speaker sums up what he never changes. The speaker sums up what he believes should be our attitude in a brief, final believes should be our attitude in a brief, final line: "Praise Him." line: "Praise Him."

By Eiliyah YeoBy Eiliyah Yeo