Versos English Gerard Manley Hopkins Editorial

English poem

Editorial

by (1844–1889)

Listen in the reader

Preface to Notes Notes

OUR generation already is overpast, And thy lov'd legacy, Gerard, hath lain Coy in my home; as once thy heart was fain Of shelter, when God's terror held thee fast In life's wild wood at Beauty and Sorrow aghast; Thy sainted sense tramme'd in ghostly pain, Thy rare ill-broker'd talent in disdain: Yet love of Christ will win man's love at last.

Hell wars without; but, dear, the while my hands Gather'd thy book, I heard, this wintry day, Thy spirit thank me, in his young delight Stepping again upon the yellow sands. Go forth: amidst our chaffinch flock display Thy plumage of far wonder and heavenward flight!

Chilswell, Jan. 1918.