Kyle Dellenbaugh
Mr. Mitchell
AP English Lit – 8th
7 February 2019
“God’s Grandeur” Critical Article Summary
This article is a critique and analysis of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poetry, focusing on his
poem “God’s Grandeur.” In the article, McCulloch seeks to not only discuss the poem, but how
through it Hopkins expressed his spiritual views, hence the title of the article, “Andrew
McCulloch analyses Hopkins’s poetic expression of his spiritual vision”. The article begins with
a quote from religious poet Elizabeth Jennings, as the quote and McCulloch’s commentary
describe the underlying religious circumstances from the Victorian era in which the poem was
written, a time in which religion was in decline. McCulloch suggests that Hopkins’s religious
poetry, then, is focused more on religious experience than religion in and of itself. McCulloch
goes on to discuss the seemingly paradoxical nature of Hopkins’s religious poetry, as it is
simultaneously deeply personal and orthodox in theology and philosophy. McCulloch also
discussed Hopkins’s distinct poetic influences that are the terms “inscape,” relating to what is
distinctive of a being, and “instress,” the recognition of this in others. This leads to the intense
and dramatic nature of Hopkins’s poetry. McCulloch then discusses the sprung rhythm technique
which Hopkins is known for and which is prevalent in “God’s Grandeur,” as Hopkins favors the
irregular pattern of stressed versus unstressed syllables. McCulloch points out numerous
examples of this sprung rhythm in the poem, even commenting on the connotative implications
of the emphatic rhythm structures. Through all of this, McCulloch discusses the effect on the
reader, conveyed through the tone and mood of the poem. Finally, McCulloch comments on the
so-called “Biblical echoes” of the poem and again, the theological orthodoxy of the suggested
views. McCulloch explains how Hopkins’s vivid religious imagery is not intended to serve as an
analogy to relate to the reader, but rather to communicate a foreign yet glorious vision of utter
inspiration. The critical essay concludes on a complimentary note, suggesting that Hopkins’s
brilliant poetry as in “God’s Grandeur” is the closest thing in the English language to the pure
vision of heavenly glory.
Kyle Dellenbaugh
Mr. Mitchell
AP English Lit – 8th
7 February 2019
Works Cited
McCulloch, Andrew. "'God's grandeur: Andrew McCulloch analyses Hopkins's poetic expression
of his spiritual vision." The English Review, vol. 15, no. 3, 2005, p. 10+. Literature
Resource Center,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A127870119/GLS?u=j220901&sid=GLS&xid=daad0
228. Accessed 6 Feb. 2019.