Pied Beauty
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
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.
I love this poem.
"All things counter, original, spare, strange..."
I made a Toon out of it.
"He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change..."
I've written a parody of it that I thought I had shared, but I can't find it. Maybe next week!
"Glory be to God for dappled things..."
Andy has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at a wrung sponge. Next week, the roundup will be here!
Mary Lee--
ReplyDeleteI knew when I saw your title and photo what poem I would find--also one of my favorites of all time. Good for this fecund time of year!
(I'm beginning to think we were separated at birth.)
But I couldn't find your Toon. I'll try again when I'm not rushing off to school.
I love this. I will have to go to TOON. Looks fun.
ReplyDeleteGive it time to load, Heidi -- it's there!
ReplyDeleteI love having "twins" and "cousins" and "sisters" all over the country!
Yes yes, definitely one of my favorites. It's such a marvel -- no matter how many times I've read it, it always feels fresh and surprising and makes me newly appreciative of the joys of syntax. I'm freckled, are you? :D
ReplyDeleteI, too, love this poem. And your Toon is very creative. A great one for a spring day. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis was the perfect poem for today, a delightfully dappled-sunlight day in WNY! Thank you! And too, for the toon. Once again, A YEAR OF READING opens my eyes to the techie world as well as the bookish one. A.
ReplyDeleteps - Word verification is supper. You hungry?
I love this Hopkins and also the one where he talks about the earth being "bleared, smeared with toil and wearing man's smudge and sharing man's smell"
ReplyDeleteThis is good enough to put in a frame and hang on the wall for our family. Maybe I will do that.
I love Gerald Manley Hopkins' poetry and this time of year, I am reminded of Wordsworth. I am thinking not just of the 'host of golden daffodils' but of his Rainbow poem.
ReplyDeleteI think it is
My heart leaps up when I behold
A Rainbow in the sky.
So was it when my life began
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The child is father of the man;
And I wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
I love the idea 'The child is father to the man.' There is some theology here; we have to accept faith as a small child does
Jane in Ontario