Gods Grandeur

Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844 - 1889

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
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears mans smudge and shares mans smell: the
soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright
wings.

In his sonnet Gods Grandeur the poet G.M Hopkins

praises the magnificence and glory of God. He describes
the majestic deeds of God. He claims that God is
omnipresent and omnipotent. The good deeds on earth
are also the results of these qualities of God. Though
human beings continuously destroy nature, it is never
spent.
The world is full of the greatness of God. Due to His greatness, the world shines
like a shook foil. It gathers to greatness, as it is full of resources. Despite this
fact, human beings act adversely. They dont follow the commands of God; rather
they function to destroy the world. Earlier generations destroyed the earth and so
is the case with the present generation. People are more interested in materialist
gain and possessions than in celebrating the glory of a loving, merciful, heavenly
Father. They act as if they are not rational creatures. As a result of their deed, the
earth has become dry; it has the smell of human beings instead of its natural smell.
Indeed the earth has reached to the verge of destruction. Nevertheless, the world is
not completely destroyed. Because of the freshness that is inside things, nature
keeps on regenerating. The sun sets in the evening only to reappear in the
morning. These all happenings are the results of the gods protection. He protects
the earth just like a bird broods over the eggs.
Though the world is infused with the glory of God and Christ offered His body to
be crucified, mankind does not live in awe of God, but imposes darkness on itself
by running endlessly. Even so, despite humanitys shortcomings, God is most
capable of perfect love and embraces the world anyway. The poet is of the opinion
that human beings acts are always directed towards destruction: knowingly or
unknowingly. But God loves all the creatures of the world, so he works for the
benefit of the creatures without any hope of benefit or profit. The poet inspires
people to grow faith in God.