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Torn between his obligations as a Jesuit and his love for poetry, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) declined to seek an audience for his work during his lifetime; the bulk of his poems were published posthumously in 1916. Hopkins was born in Stratford, England, to a wealthy family. After converting to Catholicism near the end of his studies at Oxford, Hopkins entered the priesthood and, adhering to one of his vows, burned nearly all of his accumulated poems. He began to write again in 1875, when he was asked to commemorate the death of five Franciscan nuns who drowned in a shipwreck off the coast of England as they fled oppression in Germany. In the poem he wrote, entitled “Wreck of the Deutschland,” Hopkins introduced what he called “sprung rhythm,” a meter designed to imitate the rhythm of natural speech; this meter anticipated free verse and would influence new generations of poets. “God’s Grandeur,” written in 1877, makes occasional use of this unconventional rhythm and is representative of Hopkins’s work in both subject and form. (thought a little background would be helpful)The world is charged with the grandeur of God.It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oilCrushed. Why do men then now not reck1 his rod?2Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;5And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soilIs bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.And for all this, nature is never spent;There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;10And though the last lights off the black West wentOh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs?—Because the Holy Ghost over the bentWorld broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.[1877]from Literature and Composition (Bedford St. Martin Pub)1. What does the word “charged” suggest in line 1? Consider several possibilities.2. How does style reinforce meaning in line 5? What other examples of the close connection between style and meaning do you see in “God’s Grandeur”?3. How is the sound of the poem created? Look especially at the internal rhymes. Try reading this poem aloud to hear how Hopkins uses stressed syllables to create the poem’s musical quality.4. What does the metaphor in the poem’s last two lines evoke for you? Explain the metaphor and how and why it affects you the way it does.5. “God’s Grandeur” follows the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, with an octet (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines). What question or problem is posed in the octet and answered or resolved in the sestet?What argument does “God’s Grandeur” make? How does Hopkins present his evidence, including a counterargument?Richard Wilbur was born in 1921 in New York City. He graduated from Amherst College in 1942, and then served in World War II. In 1944, he participated in two of the most crucial battles in Italy: the amphibious landing at Anzio and the attack on Monte Cassino, where thousands of troops were killed. Wilbur saw many of his fellow soldiers killed in battle before leaving the army in 1945 with the rank of sergeant. After the war, he went to Harvard Graduate School. It was there that he met Robert Frost, who recognized his talent and encouraged him to be a poet. Wilbur has taught at Harvard, Wellesley, Wesleyan, and Smith colleges, and was named the 1987 U.S. poet laureate. His first collection of poetry, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems (1947), includes “First Snow in Alsace,” a poem that reflects his war experience. A decade later, his collection Things of This World would earn both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Wilbur is also known for his translations of French literature, especially the plays of Molière. Alsace is a small region of eastern France that borders Germany and Switzerland. From 1940 to 1944, it was under the control of Nazi Germany.The snow came down last night like mothsBurned on the moon; it fell till dawn,Covered the town with simple cloths.Absolute snow lies rumpled onWhat shellbursts scattered and deranged,Entangled railings, crevassed lawn.As if it did not know they’d changed,Snow smoothly clasps the roofs of homesFear-gutted, trustless and estranged.The ration stacks are milky domes;Across the ammunition pileThe snow has climbed in sparkling combs.You think: beyond the town a mileOr two, this snowfall fills the eyesOf soldiers dead a little while.Persons and persons in disguise,Walking the new air white and fine,Trade glances quick with shared surprise.At children’s windows, heaped, benign,As always, winter shines the most,And frost makes marvelous designs.The night guard coming from his post,Ten first-snows back in thought, walks slowAnd warms him with a boyish boast:He was the first to see the snow.[1947]from Literature and Composition (Bedford St. Martin)1. In the first stanza, the snow comes down “like moths / Burned on the moon” and lies in “simple cloths” on the town. What is the effect of the differing imagery created by the simile and the metaphor in that stanza? Ultimately, what impression of the snow does the first stanza convey?2. The snow’s presence is so strong that it might be seen as a character in the first four stanzas. How does this personification prepare you for the shift (“You think:”) in line 13?3. Who is the speaker of the poem? What is the speaker’s attitude toward the events and scene described?4. What is the meaning of line 16: “Persons and persons in disguise”?5. What is the significance of the final line of the poem? In a poem about Alsace—a disputed territory that has seen the horrors of war time and again over the centuries—why does Wilbur write about the snow? What does the snow change in this poem, and how does it change it? ................
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