An approach to the

Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for

a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and

private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without

the permission of the Author.

of

GERARD t-·-

---·-

1PJTLEY

--

EOPKIT!^{-____ .,.._} S ^..

Uni 1/Cl' .3:i_ ty.

John L. McKr?n7,i e

197.3

TO l'IY PAR~!·TS

An a1.1T ::.'oc.c^1• to the 'tnrri ble ::;o1:nctn t

of

GERARD HAFLEY

_ _ _____

EOPKI1T^,,

__

S

Uni VC":..~ ,.:;j_ ty.

John L. l'icK0nzie

1970

ABSTRACT: HOPKINS' "TERRIBLE SONNETS"

In contrast to those critics who examine Hopkins primarily in terms of the Exercise of St. Ignatius Loyola, this thesie proposes that Hopkins can usefully be examined in terms of certain Greek and Victorian contexts. The drive for unity, fruitfulness and wholeness which seems to characterize much of Hopkins' poetry may be represented as a Victorian fhenomenon as well as Greek.

Hopkins' early poetry seems to capture the unique experience whereby multitudinousn~ss (the tendency to fragmentation) is "held fast" in the

instressing of God in Nature. It is the world of "Pied Beauty^{0 ,} where dappled complexity is united in the One whose "beauty is past change". The perception of this Being is the act of instress. This concept of reality, it is

proposed, derives from Parmenidean epiatemclogy. Unity for Parmenides is indivisible, timeless, motionless and complete, fixed in the present world.

The "hurrahing" side of Hopkins' poetry derives from this notion. However, in the "terrible sonnets" one can observe the horror of disintegration, both personal and universal. The most complete statement of this fear is the sonnet "The Nature is a lleraditean Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection" where change, as opposed to permanence, is inscaped for us. Through i magaary of fire, drowning and death, Hopkins expresses the anguished realization that God is outside nature, beyond the present. This reorientation is app~~friately expressed in terms of

Her£clitean epistemology. Hence i t is useful to examine the development of Hopkins' poetry as a movement from a Farmenidcan to a Heraclitean vie• of reality (mindful of certain qualifications.)

Appropriately, in terms of the Greek analogy, the pathway in this transition is the pathway of self-eY.awination. At this point we are

confronted by the Victorian parallel as concern about Q meaningful, coherent universe is projected into an uncertainty about the value of the self. In the "terrible sonnets" there is recorded the self-examination of the poet Hopkins, the despair of ¹¹inscaping" the self 1 "I am gall, I am heartburn".

Indeed, the sonnets can be seen to trace the classic descent/ascent pattern. The whole development of Hopkins' poetry in theQe ter s i s structurally reflected in the Heraclitean sonnet, such that the vi ion of the poem may indeed be Hopkins' final stance.

Hope for permanence and unity can onl7 be found in the future I the Resurrection is not a comfort for the preeent. The final dilemma for Hopkinm then is the problem of Time and the si niticance of Man. The

"significant moment" for Hopkins ·as the Reaurr ction; the now was a world

· of impermanence, night, flux and confli ct, both person and univeraal.

PREFACE

Thi2 t~wsL::: i s .:,_ study of the rele.ti onshi p bet ween rertain clas.-ic 2..l and cont0¹1pcra.ry 1)8:!.'C!)ecti vos i::-! the sonnet c of

d eso 1 a tion . (1 nn,-·.·_.1 rc)

tho poetry of Eop~d:u:-, I h?,vc t ,-2:>;il the J.ii.:-c:cty of r 0-lyinc on the

11 ;,,,cl:

J/P

F/1

.S/D L/D

of

1 ••• YT

J.."'"':l ..• --• r-_{,._,, ....} " .')l."''-.:., · "-, • , C · . , :· _o_,r ·' ., 1 , · , .. ·• , l· · : .. , ··· re~ ...,,;.~-i _on ) •

_'.i:_:·t_:;_ _ L_c>_t~"::.t:-; ____ f?_ __C~,

J:. ~-=-. . .

^~~-.o_

J1_c _ og_1:.t

})"_i_C!£:-9.r-:: .

B(j_t\'tt '.,i th nc,t r::::.: .-,.n( L.-ttrnductj_,),1 by C,C. Abr·,ott, O:·?oru., 1 ~:; :'-.

The Jcu.1·11,?..l f-'

E(.'i ted by ^HlEi_ :i.,r ey Hou;--c/ Graham Storey, Ox:!:ord, 1?59.

F _~ther Lctt_';r_.-::

or_

C.r·~.H. :i.nc1udi ng his

correc"9c:::i.cJ.cncc ·. ,:i_ th Cover-. try P;-ltmor c Edited by

c . c .

^{Ab;:1ott, Oxford, 19;G •}

1'lJ~ __ _.?e•: ,1o_il_~ ^c nd _I?_<?.\:_9_t.1;.9JJ.5_l _ r~_i tj.1~_s_ o_f_. Q_.H. H.

Edited by C. Delvin, Oxford, 1959,

T 18 ColT CGTIOi1de 1C O of c+.H .H. and Rici:1c;1rd Watson

. ---··· _,.. - ^'

________ .,._ _ __

^'

^{-- --· · - - -}

_pix.2E_, Edited C.C. Ab¹)ott , 0 ·ford., 1955.

(iv)

I ·-is!1 to 1'0c::>rd ;:iy ;,.1,....,:.,0ci.· ::i_C'n t~, th8 fo¹.lo.·in;,- pP.ople vrhn

Mis,:: E.1-1. Grcc1. for ·!;he vr-J.un"'i.e '>Grvicc of Ir.tcrloun;

,.T .L. ilcK-:::::zic . Vi.::.:.·ch 1 ;?:.,.

(v)

CONTENTS

Page

' Preface

Chapter one

. _.

_{Introduction. 2}

Chapter two ¹Inscape and Instress ¹

-

^the

..,

epistemologi cal context.

Chapter three

. ^.

_'Pitching and selving'

-

^the

₃₄

moral context .

Chapter four The 'terrible sonnets'

-

^language ₅₁

structure and meaning.

Chapter five Canel usion. 32

Notes.

17

Bibliography.

'1-:u

"For there :!.s a certo.in Gric f in things &s they are, in man 20 he i o cornn to Le, es he certainJ.y ic, over o.nd abovo those grj_efc of ci:rcumstcmce

\ihich 2.:ce i.n a r,1eCt~mTe re1;,ovu.ble - soue ine:,~:nlicable

j_ tself .••. "

2.

CHAPTER_ OlTE : INTRODUCTION

nwhoever would understand Hopkins,¹¹ says W.R. Gardner,

"must go not to Freudian psychology but rather to the 'Spiritual Exercises ^I of St . Ignatius Loyola. ¹¹ 1 Generally, the "terrible

sonnets" have been considered according to this view, that the path to spiritual integration and v.rholeness h:ls its analogy and counterpoint in Loyola's schema of pilgrim's progress.

Renee D. Do\.'nes asserts that the ^tt final shape of Hopkins' vision was Igna ttc1n. ¹¹

"Hopkins exJ:_)ressed to an imposing extent both the spirit ancf ideals of St . Ignatius. Since he chose to live his life accor ding to the spirit and disciplines of St.

Ignatius ' Company, and since ••.• so much of his poetry can be so fully anJ fruitfully read in the liuht of the Spiritual EYercises, t 1ere is no question of the riiakeu:p of Hankins' mind nor the sround of his poetic art. Both

, , . ~. d I t . ., 2 mus~ oe specirie as gna·ian.

It is my contenti on that Hopkins' poetry, c:md these sonnets in particular , arise from certain epistemological and moral

presuppositions that are not particularly ttJgnatian¹¹ in spirit; that there exist other fruitful con texts in v1hich Hopkins ¹

poetry can and oue;ht to be considered. This i s not to deny the importance of St. Ignatius to Hopkins, but I consider that for a comprehensive understanding of the total development of his poetry (and of particular images and themes) other contexts are available and ought to be considered.. More particularly, this thesis will attempt to examine, mindful of certain inadequacies, aspects of the classical and contemporary Victorian backgrounds

3

to the ¹¹t erri ble sonnets . ¹¹

With r e Gard to the claGsical background, l it tle critic al mat erial i s avai labl e. Hovrevor , T.K. Bender hac noted the classica.l bac;(ground to the developnon t of Hopkins' critical

approach to poetry, his peculiar s:yntax and style. 3 _Bender concluded that Hopki ns l.ear·n t , thr ough hie study of Greek texts, to approach a t ext in a certain way. He noted, for exampl e, a s:i_:dl ari ty between t he 10::i_101.:i!1g 1mdergraduate explication of c1. Greek t ezt, the phiJ_olo.::;ical entries in the

. ,

Journal and the ¹¹characteristic verbal intoxication of .such a poer.1 as ¹¹Spel t fr on Si hyl' s Leave.c:. n

as an epi thet of

(5?-o.y6e3

i s a

di fficult vord. It i s on0 of t~ose poetic touches which c&~not be reduced to ox~ct expl anation but convey c:. f'i~ e j_;,,c,_ge ne•rerthel eG,s. I t !:,"'§'.:;z__ ::1ean ,8__0.L!lI.., or el se perhaps Ulir.st:y i :-3 put for

t hi1·sb.l"-drunL ac t he

__________ :.,L,_ ·- - -- fir:_--;t l er ss drops of a thunder ohovrer v:onlli be. I woul d try '.J~,l t i n sonet:1ing of the sa1;1e sense: because .sal t e:-:ci t es thirst. The Edi tor s of course proceed t o ~rrive at the sense by the

r;tethoc;l . .Ar i stophanes descr ibes c\f;; used by Dionusos i n

Hades, v:ei r_,hi ng tragedy by ounce and scrupl e, and measuring i t vii th squar es, yard-1:teasures , etc." 4 (i i) ¹¹Fl ick means to to1,.1ch or strike l ightly as with

the end of a whip, a finger etc. To fleck is the next tone above flick, st i l l meani ng to touch or strike li ghtly ••• It would seem that Jilli p generally pronounced flip i s a variation.of flick which however seems connected with

f.1Y ,

flee, flit, meaning to

fly off •••• ¹¹ 5

4

(iii) "Earnest , earthless, equal, attuneable vaulty, voluminous ••• stupendous

Evenine strains to be time's vast, womb-of-all home-of-all , hearse-of-all night."

It is my contention that classical studies contri buted not only to Hopkins ' sense of the intricacies of language and syntax, but al so contributed to hi s aesthetic theories and certain episte~ological and noral i ssues that arise from

those aeathetic theories.

More hovrnver , has been vtri tten with regard to the Victorian context of Hopkins' poetry. A. Mizner stoutly maintains that Harkins was less eccentric than i s comr'.lonly thought and that he possesses an essentially Victori an

(-,

sensibility.⁰ AuGtin V!arren, too, maintains that Hopkins learned much frou Keats, the pre-Raphaelites, Pater, Ruskin, Ne·::raan, and the Victori o.n linguistic studi es of Furni val l , Barnes, and others uho soughl to restore Teutonic English.

7

N.H. MacKenzie has explored the relationshi p of Hopki ns' theories of inscape and instress wi th Huski ns' idea of inner

Q

forE: and observGd. the simi Jari ty. u W. Collins has noted the si1i1iliari ty of Hopkins and Tennyson in their concern with Victorian i ssues: the insi stence on duty, work, sacrifice, heroism, idealism, search for coc~ic unity and respect for the

individual.9 _{Finally, W.S. Joinson has examined} the poetry of Hopkins in the light of two Victorian themes: firstly, the

feelin~ of self-consciousness in nineteenth century literature and secondly, the ambivalence of Victorian attitudes to the

5

natural and temporci.l vrorld. 10 I ao inderited to these articles,

partic1Jlarly the last, in reconstructing ,::y defini t ion of the central eriicter.1ological and uoral proble,ns of the Victori an period, and I trust the reader v.i l l recoo1ize the integr ation of Victorian and c:L::1(-~sical backcrounds, ·.vhich this thesis vri l l propose.

La.t·3 nin;)teen th c r:m tury l i teratm·e i s I'e:plete r,:L th an overpo1;;erin g pcc~;inii.:1ism, a.n.:~ui sh and derc:pair. The sense of coher~rn.c e, F-nd ·.un:j.. fied vision, ::.,eeuo d to be dissi nat ed in a vrnd.cl of fluz, r cLxtivity a.nd uncertainty. The causcG of this rihono,,;e:mon are gimcrally considered in the context of the

tr2cnsi tion :frm; ortiris: ¹ a.nd faith as,.,oci2..t,c)u ·:·:i_ th a Chri ,-3t:Lc1.n C03t!10l0ry to tl1e sc11.sc of futility 3.~d hopoler:sne.ss ::i.2,_;oci ated

·,ri th .:i. Dar¹::ini an c osi"ic:lo:;:y. In the ·.¹rcr d::- of Tem:y.son:

11 • • • Serie , cleFcen~in:_:c: iron the sacred pew-:

Of ho.::i.r ti [)l- i ,-:::⁰npl od Fa.i th, h"tV(; le nr,uc·d ar:~ain Their lot ·.ii th ou:c·s to rave The , ·o,:l cl ",bout ;

~1d some arG wild0r ca~rndca, sworn to seek I f any lCl dcn harbour be for 1.1cn

Ir: ssc.:.s of Death o.ncl sunless culfe of Doubt.¹¹ (i.i) This disintegration of faith not only revolved around

one 's understanding of the total co.sno s but also focused on the microcosVi of the oelf, the personality. In Hopkins' words, the late nineteenth century was confronted with an ¹¹atomi sm of

personalj_ ty, ¹¹ a "disproportioned sense of personality" deriving from the do111inant philosophy of time (associated ui th Hegel) which seened to give no si gnificance to the individual now. (12) To me,

6

it iG tl·,is Eie:!.rnc of atcmis1~ in both the .::i.ct of knovring (epistetloloty) and the act of doing (~orality) that i s the cer,tral ¹¹Vi ctorian¹¹ concern in Ho:nldns' poetry, ancl i t has

AXplicit cla~sical analocues. Briefly put, thi~ thesis proposes tho.t in contraGt to the early poetry where multitudi nous forr;i..s u1-itr. i n tl,r, hc.ri.•or.iouo:-: UEity of God, and v;hcre e:~uitation arisc3

fror: ::-,11 :.L¹.r8rsion i11to this .::tate of llf'3Choinc bein5tt (the i!,::JtC.;:hy,;ic~,l r aclrf:rou:1~ to ¹¹inscane¹¹ 2<ncJ ¹'instrer:s¹¹) , in the } atcr pootry this opti i:iis:.: i:1 th,·, nresen t universe is n.o l on~,er

"Jre::::,1.t. Ir:t:t0.:~d ^.10 ars '-onrronted. by a i!0l'l ~! 01 conflict D-nd

E:a,l t'."'.tion i:'.1 tlrn la. ter -i.;ootry .:,.1·i ::;cs fro:,1 a ["OpRT _lti'-m frori tli.i~-

\·t:::r1

L:

rn1d o. tE:liof i:1 ~.he ~T: ... nscendental ro.:tlity of the next.

ii,~1:ce triu!.:ph ~ri :;es out of r.:onfli.ct: i t is a denial of 1~rcse~1 t nbei:igt' a.1~d .:m as::crti or.. of ¹¹beconing. ¹¹ The :oathi·'ay in t!1is

celv·:d .. :p:,rl·-¹¹ ~.:a11: n&i'1cly r:0:lf-1:'ei!1[::. Ir. the ·process of self k:10\·;lccke, Hopkins discovered an essential dualicn in hj_s ¹¹boinE,¹¹

that deEied conplcte unity vrith God i n the ~_)resent. Hence he 1.vas

l cd4

to 1,osi t a beli ef in the essential dualisn of the

uni verr;e: a worl d of flux and in.stRbili ty separated from a \Wrld of timeless perE1anence and uni ty, fixed in futurity. The bridge between the tv/0 was the hcpe of the Res(urrection.