author
Gerard Manley Hopkins
1844–1889
A Jesuit priest and one of the most original voices of the Victorian era, his poems are loved for their musical language, intense feeling, and fresh way of seeing the natural world. Though little of his work was published in his lifetime, his writing later became deeply influential.
1 Audiobook
Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins Now First Published
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
About the author
Born in Stratford, Essex, on July 28, 1844, he studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and eventually converted to Roman Catholicism under the influence of John Henry Newman. He later entered the Jesuit order and was ordained a priest, balancing religious life with a powerful, highly personal approach to poetry.
His poems stand out for their compressed energy, vivid sound, and inventive techniques, including what he called "sprung rhythm." Works such as The Wreck of the Deutschland, God's Grandeur, and The Windhover show his gift for linking spiritual intensity with close attention to nature.
Much of his poetry remained unpublished until after his death in Dublin on June 8, 1889. Once it finally appeared in print, readers and writers recognized how unusual and modern his voice was, and he came to be seen as a major poet whose work helped shape twentieth-century poetry.