Some analysis...

Summary The poet says in this poem, that we should be thankful to God for all the multi-coloured things that he has given us – things that are freckled, spotted, dappled and chequered. They make life colourful and are proof of God’s infinite creativity. The blue and white sky, the double coloured cow, the rainbow trout with flashing spots of pink, green and silver are all things that have pied beauty. The chestnut too is beautiful, the way the dark outer shell opens and reveals the red kernel inside as it fall from a height. There is more colour around us; the wings of a finch, and the farms divided into little plots by farmers, some green with crops, some brown where the harvest is over. In the midst of all this variety, shines one immutable truth, that God is never changing, He is steadfast and permanent and for that we have to “Praise Him.” Main Subject The main subject of the poem is admiration for the vastness and variety of God’s creation. Though God himself has created so many diverse things, all beautiful, He is permanent, steadfast and never changing. For this, we have to praise him. Purpose The purpose of the poem is to praise the immense creativity of God who remains unchanging and steadfast even though the world He has created ebbs and flows all the time. God has filled the world with beautiful things to delight us but he remains apart from all that. Emotion As a Catholic priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins was constantly trying to resolve the conflict in his being a priest (who was not moved by beauty) and a poet (who appreciated the beauty of nature that was all around him). Here in Pied Beauty, He thanks God for filling the world around him with colour and beautiful forms. Everywhere he looks he finds pied beauty – skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim ; finches’ wings. Within the variety, the poet is aware of the unity and permanence of God. Things change on nature, but God is immutable. Technique / Craftsmanship Hopkins was one of the earliest of the Moderns in his experiments with language. He used commonplace words in unusual ways creating his own compound words and verb forms. He used words from Old English and Welsh and gives them a meaning that is his own. He also used punctuations in unusual ways. Hopkins used what he called “sprung rhythm”, a rhythmic structure that had its roots in Anglo- Saxon poetry.