poetry analysis

Unfathomable Grace Infatuation and obsession with work and the myriad of life’s requirements sometimes blinds a person to the realization and appreciation of the simple, yet crucial, things in life. Throughout the decades, mankind has become increasingly structured around work, money, and selfish intentions. Unfortunately, this shift has veered man’s focus from being theocentric to anthropocentric. In his poem “God’s Grandeur,” Gerard Manley Hopkins capitalizes upon this worldview evolution and illustrates God’s unchanging attributes throughout the transition between the two opposing worldviews. Hopkins utilizes vivid imagery, alliteration, repetition, and Biblical allusions in his poem to convey the theme of God’s faithfulness and love, despite the ignorance and rejection of his abundant general revelation to mankind. Vivid and descriptive language permeates the entirety of the poem “God’s Grandeur.” Hopkins employs imagery to magnify the splendor of God’s earthly creations. Hopkins’ use of clever diction informs the reader that God has made His power and majesty obvious to humans through creation. Therefore, man has no excuse to ignore what is obvious to his or her eyes. The first lines of the poem intensely describe the manifestation of creation’s glory: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God. / It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; / It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil” (lines 1-3). When one shakes a sheet of aluminum foil, the foil catches rays of sunlight and reflects them back to the bystander. Sometimes the reflection is so bright that it can temporarily blind his or her sight. Hopkins correlates this powerful shining from the foil to the glorious rays of light which God’s creation displays. Likewise, oil is one of the most precious and coveted natural resources on earth. When one discovers concentrations of oil, people quickly jump at the opportunity to create a pipeline and collect it. Just as this

Cited: Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007. Print. Hopkins, Gerard Manley. "God’s Grandeur." Introduction to Literature. Kathleen Shine Cain. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. 312. Print.