Chapter - 10

God’s Grandeur

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Summary of the poem

GM, HOPKINS “God’s Grandeur” is a sonnet in form. The poet praises the magnificence and glory of God in the world. He has deep faith in God and his generosity. He emphasizes the omnipresent (present everywhere), omnipotent (most powerful), and omniscient (knows everything) quality of god.

The world is filled with the greatness of God. God’s glory expresses itself in two ways sometimes it appears with a sudden brightness when a golden foil (sheet) is shaken. It flames out just as a shining and shaken sword radiates brightness. The poet compares god’s greatness with the drop of oil, which is gathered in a jar. God’s Grandeur is found everywhere in the world, therefore the poet wonders if the world is full of God's greatness. Then why don’t people care about his punishment and pay attention to his command? People follow their worldly activities without any thought of God's anger. The reason for this ignorance and indifference is that people of the world have become too materialistic. They pursue their profit-earning activities without caring for anything at all. They are completely unaware of God's greatness because they are too much concerned with work. They are being ignorant and trying to destroy nature. They cut down the forests, establish the industries and use machines. But at the bottom of the world, the beauty of nature always remains. The earth is bare now because it has lost all its living beauty. A human being is quite insensitive to this bareness. They can’t feel whether the earth is soft or hard because of the insensitivity and ignorance towards nature and its creation. In spite of man’s destructive and unnatural activities, the beauty of nature never runs out. Beauty renews itself when spring comes. Although the sun goes down in the western sky and the earth is plunged in darkness, the next day, there is early morning because the sun is rising in the eastern sky. Just as a Dove with its breast’s covers and protects its young ones in the nest, so the Holy Ghost (God) cares like a mother protectively over the world.