Inspiring Poems: “As kingfishers catch fire”

The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was born on July 28th, 1844. If you’ve ever seen a kingfisher fly past, you’ll know that flash of bright blue, so you’ll probably be able to imagine the excitement that Hopkins puts in the opening line to this wonderful poem: “As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame” But this …

A Year of Inspirers (13) – “Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet”, and the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Hopkins was so sensitive to the beauty of nature, he prized the “wildness” and “wilderness” of life on our earth: “What would the world be, once bereft Of wet and wildness? Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet; Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.” (From ‘Inversnaid' https://www.bartleby.com/122/33.html) On …