So what does it all mean?
Hi!
I thought today that we'd try reading a poem and interpreting it through the blog. We have not done nearly enough enjoying of poetry, and there's no time like the present! Read it and write.
"God's Grandeur"
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 man's smudge and shares man's 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.
--Gerard M. Hopkins
What do you think the poem is saying? What is it saying to you?
Love,
Mrs. D
posted by Sister Sara @ 6:55 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Hmmmm, I had to read it twice to really understand it (but, hey, it's pretty late . . .). I think it's saying that no matter how bad things get on earth, there's still hope and God is still in control. It talks about how man messes up the things God has created, but that there is still a newness about them (flowers bloom every year, etc.) I think it might also be talking about us. Even though sometimes we're so messed up that it seems hopeless, God can still create something new and beautiful out of our lives.
I think it's saying that the world often appears very beaten up and "crushed." Yet, God has His hand in it all, and though it looks terrible, God has it in His hands. To borrow from a song... "He's got the whole world in His hands..."
What this means to me is that no matter what happens, no matter how stressed out I get, not matter what may seem to go wrong, that God will always have everything under His control, and his control is the only control that matters.
This poem states of the grandeur of God's creation, and then decries man for trampling on it, poisoning it, and forsaking Him.
Hey, I would be mad, too.
Just for the record, I did not read anybody else's comments, since we are all plagiarizing each other.
I think this poem laments man's fall. After all, if he were still in relation with God he would not destroy everything. So it's a funeral song for the dying earth as well as a memorial to what man once was. Also, I think it goes beyond just the earth to all of creation including man himself. God created man, yet he is determined to destroy himself and everyone round him. Yet, somehow amongst all this destruction the glory of God's highest creation can still be seen if one looks in the right place.
i think this poem is talking about how we have gone through life with out really noticing what God created. we need to enjoy life while we are still on this wonderful land God made for us.
I'm thinking Jeff J. appreciates the ground we walk on--and the sun, Luke, since he so clearly delineates those in his vocabulary artwork!
Keep on writing! This is NOT graded yet.
So I'm really late, but for some reason my computer wouldn't load this page last night. I agree with just about everyone on here. I think this is talking about the earth and how it shows God's glory. He's put so much of His glory in the earth, but we so often choose not to notice it. Over time man has begun to destroy it, not neccesarily environmentally, but with our sin and economy. Hopkins also seems to be saying that no matter how much we 'ruin' the earth, we can never tarnish it because it is God's.
Consider this graded. I do.
This is from Jon:
umm i think that this poem is talking about Gods glory and how he shows it through creation. we all look at the bad and whats not going good in life instead of the glorius world God has created
jon
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