Spring GM Hopkins poem analysis

Spring Poem by Hopkins

• The poem is a vivid depiction of the natural world in bloom during springtime, showcasing the beauty of the season.
• The poet considers spring on earth as a "strain of the earth's sweet being" in the Garden of Eden, evoking themes of innocence and potential.

Themes and Ideas

• The beauty of spring and the natural world
• A celebration of nature and its wonders
• Humanity's tendency to sin and the need for protection
• God's ability to safeguard the innocent

Style

• The poem employs imagery to capture the inscape of weeds and the sky
• Features striking assonance and euphonic alliteration
• Creates cacophony through alliteration in phrases like "Before it cloy, before it cloud"
• Exhibits challenging syntax in parts, such as "Most, O Maid's child, thy choice..."
• Written in the form of a Petrarchan sonnet

Analysis of Key Quotes

• "Nothing is so beautiful as Spring – / When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;" - The poem opens with joyful and accessible language, using euphonic alliteration and assonance to describe the beauty of spring.
• "Thrush's eggs look little low heavens, and thrush / Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring / The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;" - The poem features vivid, visual imagery, including a unique simile comparing thrush's eggs to "little low heavens".
• "The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush / The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush / With richness;" - The poem employs evocative imagery to capture the peartree and its leaves, and the image of the sky as a "descending blue" is particularly rich and vivid.
• "What is all this juice and all this joy? / A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning / In Eden garden.–" - The poem's religious symbolism is clear, with spring reminiscent of the potential and harmony represented by the Garden of Eden.
• "Have, get, before it cloy, / Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning, / Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy," - The poem shifts in tone, with the poet begging God to protect innocent youth from sinning and corruption.