Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889). In the Valley of the Elwy. Robert Bridges, ed. 1916. The Spirit of Man: An Anthology

Verse > Anthologies > Robert Bridges, ed. > The Spirit of Man: An Anthology

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Robert Bridges, ed. (1844–1930). The Spirit of Man: An Anthology. 1916.

In the Valley of the Elwy

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889)


I REMEMBER 1 a house where all were good
To me, God knows, deserving no such thing:
Comforting smell breathed at very entering,
Fetched fresh, as I suppose, off some sweet wood.
That cordial air made those kind people a hood	5
All over, as a bevy of eggs the mothering wing
Will, or mild nights the new morsels of spring:
Why, it seem’d of course; seem’d of right it should.
Lovely the woods, waters, meadows, combes, vales,
All the air things wear that make this house, this Wales:	10
Only the inmate does not correspond:
God, lover of souls, swaying considerate scales,
Complete thy creature dear O where it fails,
Being mighty a master, being a father and fond.

Note 1. G. M. Hopkins. In the Valley of the Elwy. 1877. Author’s MS. note is, ‘The frame of this sonnet is a rule-of-three sum wrong, thus: As the sweet smell to those kind people, so the Welsh landscape is NOT to the Welsh: and then the author and principle of all four terms is asked to bring the sum right … the thought is very far-fetched.’ [back]

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore.

Shakespeare · Bible · Saints · Anatomy · Harvard Classics · Lit. History · Quotations · Poetry