On the first Sunday of this New Year our first reading comes from the first verse of the first chapter of the Bible. The image of the oil being pressed out of an olive represents another kind of richness, where saturation and built-up pressure eventually culminate in a salubrious overflow. Yet, instead, they decide to mutilate it and subsequently try to escape God and become oblivious to his existence. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil. Lots of new words are born every day. Moreover, the slowness of its oozing contrasts with the quick electric flash; the method of its extraction implies such spiritual qualities as patience and faith.
They do not use it to grow spiritually closer to God but simply satisfy their own trivial needs with it. Take rap, for instance. Jesus was there in the beginning and is still here today. Here lies the essence of Hopkinss poem. The speaker envisions it as a brooding bird that envelops and protects the earth.
The point is that God is in control: Hopkins argues forcefully that this is not the random universe of the Darwinist and the naturalist writer—in which bad things happen randomly for no reason—but a world created by God, infused with his presence, and managed with a purpose, whether we know what that is or not. God speaks light into existence; Jesus is the Word of God. Latest answer posted June 10, 2021, 1:55 am UTC 1 educator answer The Healing Power of the Holy Spirit, Despite Humans' Lack of Faith The final stanza shows that God also reveals his power in a different, more paternal way. Accepting this role was no easy matter for Christ. Gale Literature Resource Center, Web. Before describing the first metaphor, which the author uses to highlight the disintegration of people from God, it is important the main metaphor of the poem.
Cite this page as follows: "God's Grandeur - Themes" eNotes Publishing Ed. The world is charged with the grandeur of God. Hopkins wants to show that humanity, by pursuing technological progress and economic returns, simultaneously distances itself away from God. The second is the date of publication online or last modification online. The olive oil, on the other hand, is an ancient sacramental substance, used for centuries for food, medicine, lamplight, and religious purposes.
Once pressed into oil, however, it was used in biblical times for cooking 1 Kings 17. Cite this page as follows: "God's Grandeur - Characters" eNotes Publishing Ed. We are all too familiar with the trod, trod, trod, seared, trade, bleared, smeared, smudge, toil of life. And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs— Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-- Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! It is good and reassuring news that there lives the dearest freshness deep down in things. Gods rod, then, is Christ Himself. Some critics have noted that this sonnet seems to be a response to Wordsworth's "The World Is Too Much with Us," and this is most notable in this stanza.
Just relax, and go with the flow. Why do men then now not reck his rod? The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. The olive, in itself, is not particularly valuable. This stanza recalls our reading from Genesis this morning — the original creation, re-created with each new morning. For all the devastation that humans bring to the earth, God has provided a world that can always renew itself. And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs — Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! Because of this, he also sees the destructive effects that humankind has on the grandeur God has created.
He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. Wordsworth sees a modern society that causes people to "lay waste our powers" in service to industry; therefore, he finds himself longing to return to a pagan, faith-infused time. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem. These could also be used in religious sermons to explain the omnipresence and power of God. Form This poem is an Italian sonnet—it contains fourteen lines divided into an octave and a sestet, which are separated by a shift in the argumentative direction of the poem. We all get stuck in our language from time to time.
"God's Grandeur" by Gerard Manly Hopkins: Poem Analysis
It can be eaten, but until it is pressed, it has no further use. In the fullness of time, God gave himself to us in Christ, born in a manger. Yet, using symbolism, Hopkins portrays God as a mother-bird who loves her children and continues to care for them. Hopkins was a 19 th century English poet as well as a Jesuit priest. Rappers continually come up with new and interesting ways of expressing ideas.
We see this right from the beginning. For Hopkins, it was another way of saying "God. Just under the surface of the soil, Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs— Here, it is put forth that every darkness eventually resolves into light due to the care that the speaker's God takes: he who "broods" over all of his creation and shelters it. God's Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins Poetry Foundation agenda angle-down angle-left angleRight arrow-down arrowRight bars calendar caret-down cart children highlight learningResources list mapMarker openBook p1 pin poetry-magazine print quoteLeft quoteRight slideshow tagAudio tagVideo teens trash-o. As a Jesuit priest who had converted to Catholicism in the summer of 1866, Gerard Manley Hopkinss mind was no doubt saturated with the Bible Bergonzi 34. Maybe this is part of the reason that we are looking for some light, some renewal in the New Year. This, then, is an apt metaphor for Gods grandeur as revealed through Jesus Christ.
The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Men have put their trust in the produce of their own hands, caring nothing for the soul. The Inherent Ugliness that Comes from a Lack of Belief in God The second half of the first stanza of this poem questions why humans don't "reck his rod" or pay attention to God's power "reck" means to heed or notice, and a rod can symbolize divine or royal power. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. He coined the sci-fi sounding words "inscape" and "instress" to describe his poetic goals. Jesus was born for us to die for us. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed.
