When they said in the intro that "In his journals Hopkins often sounds like an English Thoreau" (pg. 773) boy were they right. It has been awhile sine I had to endure the writings of Thoreau (our last battle was during my high school days) but reading Hopkins's work sure did bring back those memories. I didn't really understand what he was fully saying in his poems but I did like the "beauty" of his words, if that makes any sense at all. Hopkins and Thoreau both talk about and are really in touch with nature it seems and it really made for beautiful poetry. I really like the fact that Hopkins incorporated his religion and the fact that he was a priest into his writings, It really gave the reader a sense of who he really was and what mattered to him. I noticed that he uses a lot of accents where they don't seem to be needed so that was a bit confusing to me.
None of his poems nade the slightest bit of sense to me but I may have understood "Spring and Fall." It sounds like he is talking about the changing seasons, in respect to love and relationships, and how it affects the girl Margaret in the poem. It sounds like he is trying to comfort Margaret and help her understand her grief. The fact that he used the actual seasons, spring and fall, to describe how love affects Margaret is amazing. I usually don't like the use of metaphors and personification, hince why poetry and I don't get along, but I like how it was used here. The only thing I don't really get is why Margaret is mourning for herself. Could someone please help me out on that?
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Samantha,
I appreciate your account of your struggles with Hopkins (and Thoreau), and I like your discussion of "Spring and Fall." You seem pretty much on the right track in this poem to me--don't doubt your ability to read and relate to a poem when you put your mind to it!
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