How does Hopkins compare God's grandeur to nature?
Hopkins compares the greatness of God to nature by writing about the way in which nature regenerates itself continuously. In "God's Grandeur," Hopkins writes about the way in which people destroy the earth and ruin its beauty for a time. Human toil makes the soil bare and leaves its mark on the earth.
However, the earth regenerates itself, and nature comes back to life with freshness in the same way that the sun, which sets in the west each night, springs back in the east in the morning. Hopkins writes that this regrowth is possible only because of the presence of God. Just as nature is an amazing force that is capable of continual regeneration, so does God continue to live on, no matter what humans do. The power of God is eternal, just as nature is.
The overall point of this poem is that nature is an example of...
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God’s grandeur. The definition of grandeur is the quality of being grand or magnificent. This poem shows God’s grandeur in several ways. In the second and third lines, there are similes that compare God’s grandeur to nature. The first is “It will flame out, like shining from shook foil” (line 2). This refers to the sun shining on a piece of metal. God’s handiwork is so bright it almost blinds us. Then in line 3, the poet says, “It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed.” The poet is showing us how God’s greatness builds up and wells forth, like oil coming from the ground.
In the next several lines, the poet talks about the impact of man on nature. “And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; / And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell (line 6–7).” Man adversely affects the grandeur of God, according to these lines that talk about man “smudging” and “smelling” up nature. However, the poet says, “And for all this, nature is never spent; / There lives the dearest freshness deep down things” (line 10), which means that no matter how much of an impact man has on nature, nature still retains that freshness that comes from God.
In the last few lines of the poem, the poet is letting us know that God’s
grandeur will always appear in nature, and he does this by showing us the
metaphor of the sun going down—“And thought the last lights off the black West
went” (line 11)— followed by the sun rising: “Oh, morning, at the brown brink
eastward, springs" (line 12). Although it may seem bleak when the sun goes
down, morning always comes to show us God’s grandeur in nature once again.
“Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings” (line 13–14) is the
last line of the poem, and it reassures the reader that the Holy Ghost, like a
bird, will always watch over the world and give us something beautiful in
nature to observe.
How does Hopkins portray nature's kindness and generosity in "God's Grandeur"?
In "God's Grandeur," poet Gerard Manley Hopkins does not prove to us that nature is kind and generous. Instead, he makes a faith statement about God's goodness and grandeur. It is the Holy Spirit that is kind and generous, he asserts.
Hopkins notes that humankind has to some extent spoiled God's creation. He writes that
all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil.
Nevertheless, he asserts that God's spirit protects the earth. Despite everything that humans have done to despoil the world, nature is "never spent," by which he means it is never used up. He also writes:
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.
This "freshness" exists because of the Holy Spirit. Hopkins visualizes the Holy Spirit as a mixture of a mother and an angel bending over with her wings to protect the earth. This nurturing embrace coexists with God's power. Hopkins describes this power in the first stanza as flaming out like the flashes of light that occur when someone shakes a piece of foil. He also compares God's greatness to "ooze of oil crushed." He asks why we don't fear God's wrath ("reck his rod").
Although Hopkins begins with images of God's power, he chooses to end the sonnet with a comforting image of care and generosity, which is due to nature being infused with and watched over by the Holy Spirit.