God's Grandeur Analysis

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The poem, God’s Grandeur, is a sonnet written by Gerard Manley Hopkins. The poet expresses that even when people destroy all that God has provided for us and turn away from him, God’s majesty still presents itself new every day. In God’s Grandeur, Gerard Manley Hopkins uses many alliterations, images, and sprung rhythm as poetic devices to express to the reader. This sonnet contains one octave (8 lines) a sestet (6 lines) and 14 lines with end rhymes. The surface meaning of this poem seems to illustrate a man who stands in awe of God’s power, but is disgusted with how people treat the power of God. Mankind “trod” on God’s creation and takes advantage of what He has done for them. “The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining the shook foil. It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil.” (Lines 1-3) In these verses the author is expressing God’s power and greatness and compares it to “the ooze of oil” which demonstrates something precious, miraculous, and worth waiting for. The author also gives the reader an insight to his reverence for an awesome power from God who cannot be seen, but His power is so evident. Lines two and three show the authors use of similes and imagery. The use of the words “shook foil” and “ooze of oil” are uses of similes that help to give the imagery of a great and awesome power which is worthy of being patient for, but is charged and powerful like the shining from shook foil (simile). “Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?”(4) reads as a confusing line. “Reck” is meaning to take heed of or to care or mind about something, and rod is an image of God’s power. Hopkins is obviously crushed by the carelessness of mankind to recognize God’s power. “Generations have trod, have trod, have trod.” (5) Hopkins uses repetition in line five to form an abstract image of how man has spent so much time doing
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