Friday, July 10, 2009

Glory Be To God For Dappled Things

Another from Gerard Manley Hopkins.



PIED BEAUTY

Glory be to God for dappled things--
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced--fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.




More than most poems that I post, this one wants to be enunciated with exact clarity. Each syllable needs its own space, each stress must have its time. Don't rush, and you will feel the words forming themselves in your mouth in a glorious way.

.

16 comments:

John W. May said...

Great poem, but I did have to read it a few times to get it to flow smoothly.

John W. May said...

Guess my comment failed to send.

I was saying: good poem, but I had to read it a few times to get it to flow well.

The Realistic Dreamer said...

Praise Him.
yes. nothing left to say, but Praise Him.
I think I'm back :)

Rosa said...

This is phenomenal! Very true!

Teri said...

Very interesting. Your blog always has me searching out new tidbits. I'm very interested in Hopkin's "sprung rythm". Wish I had more time for study. (I enjoyed Lewis' article on Alliterative Metre.)

Doug P. Baker said...

Thank you all!

Grace, I am so glad to see you back in circulation! You've been gone too long. You resurfaced just as I was getting busy, but I think I'm back too, now.

Teri, I've read many articles on Hopkins' sprung rhythm; I've read some of his letters in which he explains it to Robert Bridges; I've read books of criticism of his poetics. Yet I confess that I don't understand yet what his sprung rhythm really is. Yet, when I read his poetry, nothing fails. The rhythm is there, whether sprung or traditional. I continue to be intrigued by his sprung rhythm (considered in the abstract) but I've resigned myself to the likelyhood that I'll never quite grasp that aspect of his poetics. I can feel the importance of his rhythm when I speak and when I hear his poems. But I cannot yet get my mind around just where that rhythm comes from or how exactly it is organized.

I am not familiar with Lewis' essay on alliterative rhythm. Where could I find that?

Teri said...

Doug, I'm sure you have this reference already but the most excellent and technical general resource on poetry I have is Poetic Meter and Poetic Form by Paul Fussell - p. 60-61 has a small section on sprung rhythm that was quite helpful to me.

The Lewis article can be found in Selected Literary Essays, ed Walter Hooper (Cambridge Univer. Pr, 1969). It's called The Alliterative Metre, and it's the best I've read on the subject.

Doug P. Baker said...

No, Teri, I have neither of those, but I will look them up. They sound like just what I would love.

And sorry to be so long in responding. I've had not a moment to even check email in weeks. Oh, the hectic life! At least it isn't boring!

Anonymous said...

Wrote this for a poetry reading,, then remembered my childhood favourite: Pied Beauty.. and found it on your blog! Great... will stay connected!

WORLD OF MOSAICS

look around this place and see
a world of mosaics

in the garden
flowers in mottled profusion

in the sky, clouds and trees
building and reaching in patterns

in the house furniture and fabric
designs of light and shade

even in the shamozzle of life
ordered chaos in every corner

creation’s gift of form and shape

Eversley Mortlock

Anonymous said...

(Wrote this for a poetry reading at my home.. remembered my childhood favourite Pied Beauty.. found it on your blog.. wonders of the web!)

WORLD OF MOSAICS

look around this place and see
a world of mosaics

in the garden
flowers in mottled profusion

in the sky, clouds and trees
building and reaching in patterns

in the house furniture and fabric
designs of light and shade

even in the shamozzle of life
ordered chaos in every corner

creation’s gift of form and shape

Eversley Mortlock

Doug P. Baker said...

Wow, Eversley!


That is very cool! I really like it!

Doug

Hannah said...

Hi daddy, it's Hannah. I remember you saying this poem a lot. I always have enjoyed how your voice is lively when you say it. I love you.

Doug P. Baker said...

Ha ha! Thank you Hannah! Glad to see you here! Love you too, hon!

Anonymous said...

And if you have to explain it...

Alex said...

I am not a religious person, but that is a magnificent poem. Read it about fifty years ago, and have never forgotten it. Thanks for posting it.

thor said...

there are few timeless poems. this is one.