Proposed here as a thematic companion to Bishop’s “Sonnet (1928).” 1
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It is so revealing to thematically compare the poem of a major so-called “Victorian”/Proto-Modernist 19th c. priest with that of a major 20th c. Modernist female poet. Their opening lines–I have desired to go and I am in need of–both reflect the poets’ longing for solace, both then using water as metaphor. They represent the time-traversing wish for sanctuary from turmoil, mental and physical. By coincidence–not why I chose to align them–the “proto-Modernist” Hopkins was a significant influence on Bishop, and her final poem (Sonnet, published posthumously in 1979)2 is often regarded as a tribute to Hopkins and the concept of release of self3.
Heaven-Heaven:
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I have desired to go
Where springs not fail,
To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail
And a few lilies blow.
And I have asked to be
Where no storms come,
Where the green swell is in the havens dumb,
And out of the swing of the sea.
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The poem is fairly simple in structure: two quatrains, with first and fourth, and second and third lines rhyming. But it is in the intricacy of the meter that the master reveals himself, employing what he called sprung rhythm, a.k.a., the elephant in the room. AI Overview: “Sprung rhythm is designed to mimic the natural, dynamic flow of common speech rather than the rigid, metronomic count of standard poetry (like iambic pentameter).Instead of counting every syllable, sprung rhythm counts only the stressed (accented) syllables in a line. A foot contains one initial stressed syllable, but can be followed by 0-4 unstressed syllables, generally, often with four feet per line. This freedom of meter allows Hopkins to create cadences that more closely emulate daily speech as opposed to the formal structures of poetic meters, one of the reasons he is often referred to as proto-Modernist rather than Victorian.
The following section discusses Hopkins’ use of Sprung Rhythm, a complex and intricate use of meter. Because Hopkins does not “play by the ‘old’ rules,” his meter can be hard to decipher, and line readings are often subjective. If you find this discussion too technical for your taste, follow Hopkin’s own advice: if the reader finds a passage obscure, do not bother yourself with the meaning, but pay attention to the best and most intelligible [passages]. But I do feel that if one discusses as much of Hopkins’ poetry as is done in this blog, and Sprung Rhythm is so crucial to his meter, it has to be addressed at some point. In the previous version of this post, I had attempted to effect a compromise of compliance and flexibility, and, in the process, did justice to neither Hopkins nor the reader, for which I apologize.
To give you an idea of the complexity of this issue, in one instance AI Overview offers this explanation of how to scan Heaven-Haven:”Gerard Manley Hopkins’ ‘Heaven-Haven’ is written primarily in iambic meter, featuring lines of varying lengths that create a calming, rolling rhythm mimicking a safe harbor. It incorporates two quatrains (stanzas of four lines) structured with 3, 2, 5, and 3 beats per line–except for Line 8, which breaks the strict iambic pattern.” Ask AI another way, and you may get this answer: “To scan Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poem ‘Heaven-Haven,’ analyze it using his signature rhythmic system called ‘Sprung Rhythm,’ providing this example,
Stanza 1
I have desired to go
(da DUM da DUM da DUM – three strong beats)
Where springs not fail,
(da DUM da DUM – two strong beats)
To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail,
(da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM – iambic pentameter)
And a few lilies blow.
(da da DUM da DUM – three strong beats).
But doesn’t each foot in Sprung Rhythm begin with a stress? AI here doesn’t resolve this and even ends up with a stray iamb. If, as Hopkins suggests you “read” his poetry with the ear, Sprung Rhythm comes into focus. Try reading it out loud and chances are, since it is one sentence, your ear will hear:
These are examples of what Hopkins called roving over, more commonly referred to as enjambment, in which the meaning or syntax or meter, etc., is not “stopped” at the end of the line. In our example above, although the stanza consists of four lines. it is only one sentence and one thought. Hopkins uses metrical enjambment to create a rolling motion, with one line “roving over” into the next, emulating, made clear in the second stanza, the motion of waves. Some of his most audacious uses of enjambment is in rhyme, where an end rhyme completed with the beginning of the first word of t he next line: as in Stanza 5, where leeward rhymes with drew her/D[ead]. There are so many nuances that could be explored, such as the use of only three unstressed syllables in line 4 (and, a, -lies: the brief and, the briefer a, and the half-word -lies) to suggest the temperate , unchanging nature of the peaceful fields, compared to the five used in the sublime line 8 (and, of, the, of, the): the repeated double-unstressed of the, followed by a stress (swing, sea, and the alliteration of s’s) perfectly suggests the rise and fall, the rolling motion of the swells.
The title of the poem establishes that the speaker is a Catholic novice about to complete her novitiate4 and become a nun. Though specific to a nun, the poem is widely quoted as any person’s attempt to seek mental sanctuary from the buffets of life: I have desired to go; cf. Bishop’s, I am in need of. Where Bishop’s speaker seeks solace in music, Hopkins’ speaker seeks physical seclusion, where water-springs and, in a double meaning, seasonal Springs, do not fail, a place where fields are forever free of damaging sharp and sided hail and are forever tranquil, And a few lilies blow–the lily is a frequent symbol representing purity, chastity, and innocence–undamaged, the three close stresses of the fourth line echoing a stasis.
And I have asked to be, asked representing the nun’s willingness to enter her vocation, as well as a “plea” on a material level. The two-stressed second line–Where no storms come–emphasizes the blocking of storms. In comparison, the multi-syllable third and seventh lines represent a lingering abnegation (no) of the destructive power (sharp and sided hail) of storms and an echo of the rolling motion of quiet (dumb) waves (swell). And the brilliant last line’s meter–u/uu/uu/–while mimicking the roilng waves’ (swing) motion, obviates it with the words, out of . This second quatrain directly references the Haven of the title, haven literally being a port or safe docking-place for boats, in this case metaphorically a state of mind/emotion at peace, protected from life’s assaults(and for the nun, a religious sanctuary, or Heaven). When read aloud, the poem’s cadence, rhyme, and word-choice convey a sense of tranquility, a sanctuary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2MJejpsNMo.
Even a brief synopsis of Hopkins’ life5 indicates how Heaven-Haven can apply to Hopkins himself. See posts of his “terrible sonnets”: “Carrion Comfort.” How to Deconstruct Gerard Manley Hopkins’ Poem. Despair as Genius. 19thC.; “No worst there is none.” Gerard Manley Hopkins. How to Deconstruct Hopkins’ Harrowing Poem. Despair.”
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- Sonnet (1928)
I am in need of music that would flow
Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips,
Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,
With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.
Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,
Of some song sung to rest the tired dead,
A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!
There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.
↩︎ - Caught — the bubble
in the spirit level, a creature divided;
and the compass needle
wobbling and wavering, undecided.
Freed — the broken
thermometer’s mercury
running away; and the rainbow-bird
from the narrow bevel
of the empty mirror, flying wherever
it feels like, gay! ↩︎
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.
I say móre: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is —
Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.
. ↩︎- The novitiate is a deeply intense, formative time focused on prayer, community living, spiritual retreats, and studying the foundations of the vowed life. It is canonically regulated by the Church to ensure both the candidate and the community can discern whether the individual is truly suited for religious life. ↩︎
AI Overview: “Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) was an English Victorian poet an Jesuit priest. Famous for inventing “sprung rhythm” and his concept of “inscape” (the unique inner essence of natural objects), his profound, deeply religious poetry was largely unpublished during his lifetime and discovered posthumously in 1918.
Born in Stratford, Essex, Hopkins was raised in a prosperous Anglican family. He won the poetry prize at Highgate grammar school and studied classics at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1866, during the height of the Oxford Movement, he converted to Roman Catholicism under the guidance of John Henry Newman. This decision temporarily strained his relationship with his family.
Following his conversion, he entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1867 and was ordained as a priest in 1877. For the next several years, he served as a parish priest, preacher, and teacher in various English and Scottish cities, including London, Oxford, Liverpool, and Glasgow.
In 1884, he moved to Ireland to serve as a professor of Greek literature at University College Dublin. However, this period was marked by failing health, isolation, and feelings of artistic and spiritual frustration. During this time, he wrote a series of deeply anguished poems known as the “terrible sonnets”.
In 1889, at the age of 44, Hopkins contracted typhoid fever and died [the conditions under which he worked probably contributed to his death]. He is buried in Dublin. His groundbreaking poetry did not achieve widespread recognition until his close friend Robert Bridges edited and published a collection of his works in 1918. ” ↩︎
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(Note: You can view most poems on the website, Poetry Foundation.)
(Note: My Poetry Recordings Playlist: At the very bottom of the post Is a recording. To view my entire playlist of poetry recordings, hover over “1/18” in the upper right corner, then click on ‘My Poetry Recordings Playlist:´and make selection.)
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