God’s Grandeur (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Gerard Manley Hopkins
- First Published: 1918
- Type of Work: Sonnet
- Genres: Poetry, Sonnet
- Subjects: Nature, Religion, God, Human race, Beauty, Christianity
The Poem
“God’s Grandeur” is a Petrarchan sonnet describing a world infused by God with a beauty and power that withstands human corruption. The poem begins with the assertion that God has “charged” the world with grandeur. It then describes the implications of this “charge.” The grandeur is like a physical force, an electric current, a brightness that can be seen.
The poet questions the human response to this grandeur. Why do humans not “reck his rod?” That is, why do they not recognize and accept divine rule? Instead, humans have dirtied this world by...
[The entire page is 1324 words long]
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