The Windhover

Gerard Manley Hopkins's The Windhover

Gerard Manley Hopkins' sonnet "The Windhover" is a masterful exploration of the interplay between nature, spirituality, and human experience. Written in 1877 but published posthumously in 1918, the poem exemplifies Hopkins' innovative use of sprung rhythm and dense, alliterative language to capture the awe-inspiring sight of a kestrel in flight. Through this vivid portrayal, Hopkins delves into themes of divine beauty, human striving, and the revelation of the transcendent in the mundane.

The poem opens with an immediate sense of excitement and wonder as the speaker describes the falcon, referred to as "morning's minion" and "daylight's dauphin." These royal epithets elevate the bird to a position of majesty, foreshadowing the spiritual significance Hopkins will attribute to it. The use of alliteration in phrases like "dapple-dawn-drawn" creates a rhythmic intensity that mirrors the bird's dynamic flight, while also showcasing Hopkins' linguistic virtuosity.

As the octave progresses, Hopkins employs kinetic imagery to convey the falcon's mastery over the air. The bird is described as "riding" and "striding" through the sky, anthropomorphic terms that lend a sense of purposeful control to its movements. The comparison to a skater's heel "sweep[ing] smooth on a bow-bend" further emphasizes the grace and skill of the windhover's flight. This admiration culminates in the speaker's heart being "Stirred for a bird," a moment of emotional and spiritual awakening that sets the stage for the poem's turn.

The sestet marks a shift from observation to interpretation, as Hopkins begins to unpack the spiritual significance of the windhover. The exclamation "Buckle!" serves as a pivot point, suggesting both a physical folding of the bird's wings and a metaphorical breaking open of meaning. Here, Hopkins layers multiple interpretations onto the falcon's flight, seeing in it "Brute beauty and valour and act," a combination of natural grace and noble qualities that transcend the merely physical.

The poem's dedication "To Christ our Lord" becomes particularly relevant in the sestet, as Hopkins draws an explicit parallel between the falcon and Christ. The bird is addressed as "O my chevalier," a term of chivalric devotion that casts the windhover as a Christ-like figure. This comparison is further developed through the imagery of fire breaking forth, "a billion / Times told lovelier, more dangerous," suggesting the awe-inspiring and potentially transformative power of divine revelation.

In the final tercet, Hopkins broadens his meditation to encompass the wider world of human labor and natural processes. The image of the plough shining as it cuts through the soil ("shéer plód makes plough down sillion / Shine") draws a parallel between the mundane work of farming and the transcendent beauty of the falcon's flight. Similarly, the "blue-bleak embers" that "Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion" evoke both the pain of sacrifice and the potential for renewal and transformation.

Throughout the poem, Hopkins' use of sprung rhythm and compound words creates a sense of compressed energy and meaning. This linguistic density reflects the intensity of the speaker's experience and invites the reader to engage deeply with the text, unpacking layers of sound and significance. The result is a poem that not only describes a moment of natural beauty but also enacts the process of spiritual insight, moving from observation to revelation.

In conclusion, "The Windhover" stands as a testament to Hopkins' ability to find profound spiritual meaning in the natural world. Through his innovative use of language and form, Hopkins creates a poem that is at once a celebration of natural beauty, a meditation on Christ's sacrifice, and an exploration of how the divine manifests in both the extraordinary and the everyday. The falcon becomes a multifaceted symbol, embodying the beauty of creation, the majesty of Christ, and the potential for transcendence in all aspects of life. As such, "The Windhover" continues to resonate with readers, offering a rich terrain for literary analysis and spiritual reflection.