Pied Beauty by Gerald Manley Hopkins PDF FINAL

SYBA (CBCS 2019 Pattern)
SEMESTER - III
SUBJECT- COMPULSORY ENGLISH
Prof. S. S ALHAT
(Department of English )
Topic- poetry
Sub Unit- The Pied Beauty by G M Hopkins

Pied Beauty by Gerald Manley Hopkins
Summary
Pied Beauty is a curtal sonnet by Gerald Manley Hopkins published posthumously in 1918
though written in 1877. Though most of the Victorian poets deal with the theme of frustration,
anxiety, decay, loss of human values and faith, Gerard Manley Hopkins is the only one poet who
finds hope in God. So, human faith and god's grandeur are the common themes of his writing.
In this short poem, Hopkins appreciates the strength of the god in the universe. All the things in
the universe contain the pied beauty. Sky does have the couple color, trout are spotted and
chestnut does have the multiple colors. Different trades do have the different purpose and
different instruments have different tunes. In addition, the landscape is pieced, plotted, fold,
follows and ploughed. Multiplicity and pied beauty can be seen in the landscape and the things
of this universe. Not a single thing resembles with the other. Then pied beauty is the dominant
feature of this universe and for this pied beauty he gives glory to God because God is the only
source or father of all these things. Taking this glory of God into account, Hopkins asks mankind
to praise him, and then all the problems of the universe can be resolved peacefully.
The design of the poem corresponds to the design of the universe. His curtail sonnet is an
exceptional sonnet where he minimizes the traditional form of a sonnet by reducing the eight
lines in six and the six lines sestet into four and a half. Multiplicity is there in the pattern,
somewhere there is alliteration. The repetitions of the sounds in the poem through the words like
'dappled', 'stipple', 'tackle', 'fickle', 'freckled', 'adazzle' etc. reinforces the theme of the poem by
intertwining the diverse things of the nature created by the god into a beautiful and
comprehensible whole. The poem can be taken as a form of hymn of creation. The poet praises
the variety and beautiful things of the world which are fathered by the god. By praising the
creation, he praised the almighty God. He glorifies the infinite power of God to create the
vicissitudes of things and also for the power to bring uniformity despite the diversity.
Symbols and Imagery

The first line tells us that "dappled things" are the most amazing things in the world. The rest of
the poem is devoted mostly to explaining what the speaker means by "dappled things." The
beauty of the poem's descriptions is supposed to convey their awesomeness, even if we can't look
at a "couple-coloured" sky at the moment we are reading. The examples begin with objects that
consist of two colors, but at the end of the first stanza, "dappled" becomes a metaphor for the
mixture of different kinds of things.
 Line 2: The two-colored skies are compared using simile to a "brinded cow."
 Line 3: The speaker paints a vivid image of the reddish dots on the sides of swimming
trout.
 Line 4: The first half of the line includes an implicit metaphor comparing fallen chestnuts
to coals in a fire.
 Line 5: This line contains imagery related to farming, including the "plotted" land, the
sheep-fold, a "fallow" field, and a plough.
 Line 6: All the trades of humankind are "dappled" only metaphorically. "Dappled" is a
word to describe a visual appearance and jobs don’t have a particular appearance. But
they are varied and diverse, just like a "dappled thing."
 Lines 8-9: The speaker uses another implicit metaphor, comparing three sets of contrasts,
"swift, slow," "sweet, sour," and "a dazzle, dim," to freckles.
Question- Answer section
1. Mention some of the dappled things referred to by the poet.

Ans: In his poem, Pied Beauty, the poet, G. M. Hopkins, has referred to a number of dappled
things. He has beautifully and serially cataloged all these varied objects, and these are the sky
with double colour, the streaked cow, rosy spotted trout fish, the wings of the finch birds with
different and divergent hues.
2. “And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.”-What are gear, tackle, and trim? Why
are they mentioned in this sentence?
Ans: Gear, tackle, and trim are instruments which are used in connection with a ship. Gear is a
set of toothed wheels that regulates the speed, pace or velocity of the ship. Tackle is a set of
ropes and pulleys for working a ship’s sails or for lifting weight. Trim is the method of arranging
cargo, passengers, etc. in a ship to make the ship evenly balanced. These things have been
mentioned here to indicate the diversity of objects used in industry or factory that manufactures
sailing vessels.
3. “He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change”-Explain the significance of this line.
Ans: The poet wants to tell that God is the creator of all bright and varied beautiful and charming
objects of Nature. The beauty of Natural objects changes. It is not permanent. But God, who is
the source of all things which go on changing constantly is no subject to change. His nature and
beauty are eternal and everlasting. He who creates all changing and volatile objects is himself
beyond any change. The note of paradox is noticeable here.
4. What kind of sonnet is Pied Beauty?
Ans: Hopkin’s Pied Beauty is a unique kind of sonnet named curtail sonnet. A sonnet is usually a
poem of fourteen lines, but Pied Beauty consists of ten and a half lines. It is a specific genre that
has been solely created by Hopkins. ‘Curtail’ sonnet is a shortened form of the sonnet, and it also
contains a rhyme scheme which is markedly different from other traditional sonnets, both
Petrarchan and Shakespearean.
5. Explain the line, “with swift, slow, sweet, sour, a dazzle, dim”.
Ans: This line highlights the contrast or paradox, which is inherent. The poet has talked about
things and objects in the world of God which are apparently and outwardly contradictory. There
are some objects which are swift while others are slow in motion or movement. Some things are
sweet, and the others are sour or bitter. There are certain things in nature which are bright,
whereas others are not bright or brilliant. Therefore, the world of God is full of the contrary,
contradictory and paradoxical elements and objects.
6. Explain the line, ‘whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)’.
Ans: In this line, the poet-speaker, Hopkins admires or appreciates the fickleness or frailty of
different objects of nature but
simultaneously he puts forward a thought-provoking metaphysical question. He wants to tell that
there is hardly anyone who can explain or illustrate the reason for the changing nature of the
different objects of nature.

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SYBA (CBCS 2019 Pattern)

SUBJECT- COMPULSORY ENGLISH

Sub Unit- The Pied Beauty by G M Hopkins

Symbols and Imagery

Question- Answer section

1. Mention some of the dappled things referred to by the poet.

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