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Saturday Song
Saturday Song Saturday Song: Gerard Manley Hopkins
Saturday, August 23, 2014 at 06:00AM 
Gerard Manley Hopkins was ee cummings before cummings ever saw the light of day. You show get to know him.
(BTW ~ Why do poets seem more likely to use three names? Who knows? But these are three names worth knowing: Gerard. Manley. Hopkins. Maybe his friends called him "Gerry".)
Actually, they would've called him "Father Gerry" because Hopkins was a Catholic priest. Born in 1844 to an Anglican family, at 18 he converted to Catholicism and by 20 be became part of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits.
His work as a poet took second place to his priestly calling, because (at the poem below indicates) he saw clearly the glory of God in all human endeavor. He died a few weeks short of his 45th birthday, 1889. Nearly all of his work was published postumously.
Presumably he is still at work, creating ever-cooler stuff for us to enjoy later.
Pied Beatuy
Reader Comments (1)
How do I know this poem? It's so familiar to me, but I don't recognize the author's name. Do you know if it ever made it into a film or book, Ray?