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Jul 02, 2017
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"The Starlight Night" By Gerard Manley Hopkins (Imagery Workshop)
Look at the stars! look, look up at the skies!
O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!
The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels there!
Down in dim woods the diamond delves! the elves'-eyes!
The grey lawns cold where gold, where quickgold lies!
Wind-beat whitebeam! airy abeles set on a flare!
Flake-doves sent floating forth at a farmyard scare!
Ah well! it is all a purchase, all is a prize.
Buy then! bid then! — What? — Prayer, patience, alms, vows.
Look, look: a May-mess, like on orchard boughs!
Look! March-bloom, like on mealed-with-yellow sallows!
These are indeed the barn; withindoors house
The shocks. This piece-bright paling shuts the spouse
Christ home, Christ and his mother and all his hallows.
https://soundcloud.com/neopoet/the-starlight-night-by-gerard-manley-hop…
About This Poem
Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft
Comments
scribbler
7 years 12 months ago
Hey
"abeles" huh? lol. Well there Are times when obscure is the only way to go. This is as you know quite excellent. And it's full to overflowing with all kinds of imagery. And I really like the word "withindoors"........stan
weirdelf
7 years 12 months ago
[grins]
you just know I couldn't resist it.
jane210660
7 years 12 months ago
Bit of Hopkins
always image laden.
Where to start........
stars as fire folk, diamonds, elves eyes.
Link between stars and precious metals.
May mess blossoms, wonderful. Fencing posts to separate us from heaven.
So much.
Jx
weirdelf
7 years 12 months ago
ayup, and the deliicious anti-imagery,
Did you know Hopkins was threatened many times with ex-communication? Two centuries earlier he could well have burned.
That last line is a satire, implying Jesus, Christ meaning 'anointed one' was well anointed with wine, hiding from the fairies with his drinking buddies 'hallows', a euphemism for rowdy revellers 'allo, alllo, allo'.
jane210660
7 years 12 months ago
A short poem
which is more than the sum of its parts.
The more you read, the more you uncover.
I knew Hopkins was a priest and struggled with the juxtaposition of his faith and poetry, but in all honesty, I should know more about him.
Jx
weirdelf
7 years 12 months ago
Sprung Rhythm
Sprung rhythm
A metrical system devised by Gerard Manley Hopkins composed of one- to four-syllable feet that start with a stressed syllable. The spondee replaces the iamb as a dominant measure, and the number of unstressed syllables varies considerably from line to line (see also accentual verse). According to Hopkins, its intended effect was to reflect the dynamic quality and variations of common speech, in contrast to the monotony of iambic pentameter. His own poetry illustrates its use; though there have been few imitators, the spirit and principles of sprung rhythm influenced the rise of free verse in the early 20th century.
I'm going to run a quick workshop, definitely Shark Pool, asking each participant to write one poem in Sprung Meter.
scribbler
7 years 12 months ago
Sprung meter
Kinda reminds me of somebody here a bouts lol..........stan
weirdelf
7 years 12 months ago
Sprung! Meet 'er.
Different meaning in Aussie. Sprung means caught, like busted, so one can only assume "Sprung! Meet 'er." refers to a young man caught whilst fleeing a blind date.
jane210660
7 years 12 months ago
Good
Count me in.
Jx
weirdelf
7 years 12 months ago
that Sprung Meter is not as hard as it sounds, Mark
as long as you don't try to read Mr Hopkins rather dry theoretical papers.
It is based on the way poems were said in the olden days before modern formal meter was invented and it flows and skips along gorgeously.
Rula
7 years 12 months ago
An uplifting piece
indeed. Full of awesom imagery. Sounds effortless though. I wish ...oh how I wish to write something with such beauty.
Thanks for introducing me to this piece of art jess.