Could you summarize and analyze Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem "Spring"?

Gerard Manley Hopkins's poem "Spring" is a Petrarchan sonnet that praises the beauty of Spring. The speaker first comments on the beauty of spring, then provides vivid images of plants, birds and their eggs, trees, and lambs. The speaker then connects these physical features and sensory impressions to Judeo-Christian beliefs about creation, including the Garden of Eden. The last part praises Christ as well as the innocence that preceded sin.

A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines. The Petrarchan form uses two stanzas. The first, the octave, has eight lines, while the second, the sestet, has six lines. The octave uses a rhyme scheme of abba abba to form two quatrains. The sestet typically uses a cdcdcd rhyme scheme, but Hopkins repeats the a rhyme, which ends in ing, to create a scheme of cacaca.

The poem begins with hyperbole, an extreme exaggeration for effect, in praising the exemplary beauty of Spring. The octave is especially rich in imagery, especially visual and auditory. Hopkins several types of repeated sounds, often in combination, to create unity of sound and enhance flow. Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds, while consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in a word. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds anywhere in a word. In lines 2–4, he uses alliteration with the w, l, t, and r sounds and consonance using l, t, and r. Assonance is used with the long e, short e, and short i. Several related o and u sounds also add to the harmonious tone.

When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush's eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring...

While the sonnet typically uses iambic pentameter, Hopkins varies the rhythm by adding or removing syllables. Lines 1 and 3, for example, begin with a stressed syllable rather than an unstressed one. The irregularity creates a contrast with the smooth effect of the frequent alliteration and assonance. In the second stanza, the syntax also becomes irregular, even staccato through uses of several monosyllabic words; nevertheless, consistency is emphasized by repetition.

Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord...

The second stanza also switches to religious concepts and questions. The speaker links nature's coming to life with the beginnings of humankind in Eden. The "joy" of the natural phenomena is associated with Christ and connects with the "lambs" of stanza 1, as the lamb is a symbol of Christ. Childish innocence is also linked to Christ, as the speaker addresses him directly and evokes a time before things are spoiled or go "sour with sinning."

What is the meaning of "Spring" by Gerard Manley Hopkins?

Gerard Manley Hopkins was a Catholic priest.  Unfortunately for the poetic world, Hopkins wrote for only twelve years because he died from an epidemic or typhoid.  Hopkins love of life and joy in nature makes his poetry memorable and he is regarded as one of England’s best poets of the latter part of the nineteenth century. 

The poet’s love of God and the natural world pervades his poetry.  However, he still is uncertain about some aspects of the world and his beloved religion.   He has questions like the rest of us about life, nature, and death.

Spring is awesome.  What a statement about a season!  Nothing can compare with Spring.  The speaker even loves the weeds that come up.   

• Employing a simile, he compares the bird eggs to the heavens which seem to bring them closer together.
• The poet seems to think Spring brings a feeling of heaven on earth. Maybe instead we can notice that, by leaving out the "like" he reduces the sense of distance, bringing the eggs and the newborn birds that much closer to being little low heavens.
• The thrush’s song echoes throughout the woods.   The poet uses enjambment to continue the thought in the next line.
• The song rinses and wrings the listener’s ear which takes on a religious and refreshing air. It strikes like lightning. Since this is the first bird sound of spring, the poet listens and receives a striking feeling.

• As he observes Spring taking over nature, he watches the pear tree bud and bloom; the spring lambs are born,

What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy...

The poet asks God to bring the innocent into the Christian fold and save his soul. The poem converts to a prayer like poem asking Jesus to save the innocent from sin. Using the word choice elicits many questions about God’s giving man free will; thus, he must allow man to make his own way and choose his own path.