Blog 3: God's Grandeur

My Thesis

      Whether or not one may believe in religious salvation, the motif of Hopkins’ poem, “God’s Grandeur” is the Power of God versus The Destruction of Man, where Light essentially overcomes Darkness.

In my first paragraph, I explain how Hopkins makes the connections between God, Power and Light. I discuss his word choice of ‘grandeur, greatness’ highlight supremacy. Also, his visual images of a powerful man with a ‘rod’ in his hand’. He uses similes such as ‘shining from shook foil’ and ‘ooze of oil’ to describe this unstoppable, almost electrical force. Then, I explain how Man is associated with Destruction and Darkness. I expand on rhythm such as the spondee ‘flame out’ (Line 2) and Hopkins’ question full of stresses (Line 4). The visual imagery is negative with words like ‘seared, bleared, smeared’. My evidence includes alliteration of ‘s’, repetition of the phrase ‘have trod’ which also creates an onomatopoeia of the trials they face. This highlights how in the midst of having such a mighty God, man has chosen to ignore him and live this life of gloom. The poem begins powerfully with God’s mighty nature, to then juxtapose directly with the ignorance of Man.

In my 2^nd paragraph, I present the solution. This is where Hopkins adds hope of God’s redeeming powers. This further emphasizes light over the darkness of the previous stanza. I discuss the positive nature of the words with its coming of ‘morning’ and season of ‘spring’. One can imagine the restoration of life. Also, I refer to Catholic illusions, of the dove bird, to emphasize the conclusion which I think is most powerful. The colour contrast of white with the brown mud stains of man. It is the perfect symbol of God, Power and Light which ends the poem on a reassuring note.

Although I am not too sure how I would create an argument for this poem, that oppose my belief on it, in an actual essay that is more than two paragraphs, I would bring about other viewpoints with how different layers of the poem may be interpreted. With more paragraphs, I can further explain detailed form and sound imagery that would enhance my idea development.

Blog 2: The World is Charged

       This man uses the perfect retrospective manner to read the poem beautifully. His age adds to the power of the poem too, how I imagine Hopkins to portray it :)

        Throughout “God’s Grandeur”, Hopkins’ uses different forms of language to explore the motif of Power Over Destruction. Likewise, the motif of Light Over Darkness or God versus Man. Written in Petrarchan Sonnet, the octave associates God with power and light while man with destruction and darkness. God is depicted holding a‘rod’ which represents his superiority over Man where his ‘grandeur’ and greatness’ cannot be destroyed. The simile compares it to the ‘ooze of oil’. With more visual imagery, God is related to an electric charge on The Earth, with bright flashes of light ‘shining from shook foil’, like that of lightening. The storm where it strikes, is the destruction man has caused. The spondee 'flame out' suggests that darkness seems to prevail. By using the verbs ‘ seared, bleared, smeared’ along with the alliteration of ‘s’, ‘man’s smudge’ is further emphasized, which denote negative change with ruin. The repetition and onomatopoeia of ‘have trod’ in line 5, help us visualize this slow movement through mud and polluted Earth. Also, the question in Line 4 is filled with stressed words, along with the naturally slow, solemn rhythm of the poem, accentuate Hopkins’ concern with man’s destructive nature and ignorance of God.

      Whereas the first stanza was powerfully intense, the sestet restores a slightly soothing balance, with the reassurance of God’s light returning after darkness. More positive words like 'dearest freshness, springs' are used. With all this darkness and the seeming end of ‘last lights’, the beginning of a new day comes. Hopkins’ expresses the light of ‘morning’, or perhaps it is a pun with the word 'mourning'. There is new life to come to this broken ‘bent’ world. Alluding to Christian beliefs, the ‘Holy Ghost’, is symbolized by a dove. This animal imagery, with its ‘bright wings’ and pure white contrasts beautifully with the stanza before of man’s tainted world. After seeming doom, comes redemption and this idea of salvation.

   

Blog 1: Words Words Words....

Oh Modern Day Society Communication: An Explosion of Words

                                                    50 million tweets per day people!

        To write a word on paper, is to paint a picture on canvas in its various forms, following a sequence. On a rainy day in Davis, I may curl up in bed for hours glued to a 200 page novel. I can follow every chapter of the fictional story, from start to finish, such as following the strokes on a detailed painting. In the end, one concise image is portrayed. Or perhaps before I jump on my bike, I can take a few minutes on Twitter to read some tweets or write one myself. In less than a mere 15 informal, perhaps unconventional words, I can broadcast to my friends, followers or the world, what is happening in my life, in my own personal, emotional style. This tends to be a black and white sentence with an occasional pop of color I decide to express on a deeper level. But if I am ambitious, then I will decide to unlock the content saturated 14 lines of a sonnet. A picture with consciously formed paint-strokes where I must connect the seemingly missing pieces. It is totally subjective, with layers of insightful meaning added through its rhythm, rhyme and devices to solve a problem. Essentially, how we choose to view each, is how we decide to look at a masterpiece.

         In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73, the problem is the old man’s metaphysical death of his youth and passion. This poem utilizes the 3 quatrains which portray the diminution of time from a year to day to the final minutes of a fire before it outs. It is a battle of time. At then end of each there is a fullstop which adds a sense of retrospective disappointment. Its rhyming sequence (abab, cdcd, efef) heighten the solemn despair and development of self pity. The first rhyming words ‘behold’ and ‘cold’ exaggerate the almost pitying sound effect of ‘o’ in a dismal world. After, they tend to be paradoxical to each other. There are contrasting imagines of the dead ‘hang’ with the happier ‘sang’, the hope of ‘day’ with the loss of ‘away’, the warmth of ‘fire’ with the its end of ‘expire’. It represents his life. What he once had, he has now lost. This epitomizes the old man’s pessimism about life. The couplet creates a turn for the poem from speaking of his ‘death-bed’ to the complete opposite idea of love. The words that are stressed are powerful such as ‘makes, love, strong, long’. The last rhyming words ‘strong, long’ end with a brighter image than ‘cold’ and ‘hang’ which the poem began with. It brings a brighter conclusion.

And so it begins.... a breath of sweet simple poetry for the inspired soul.

Hafiz, c. 1320 to 1389

a beautiful, mystic, Sufi poet from Persia

شمس‌الدّین محمّد حافظِ شیرازی 

Long ago, God drew a circle in the sand exactly around the spot where you are standing right now. You were never not coming here. This was never not going to happen. Once you have faith.place trust.one day you will see the purpose of this moment.

This place where you are right now

God circled on a map for you.

Wherever your eyes and arms and heart can move

Against the earth and the sky,

The Beloved has bowed there -

Our beloved has bowed there knowing

You were coming.

I could tell you a priceless secret about

Your real worth, dear pilgrim,

But any unkindness to yourself,

Any confusion about others,

Will keep one

From accepting the grace, the love,

The sublime freedom

Divine knowledge always offers to you.