Since 1930, critics have given wide attention to the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Some of these critics have discussed the nature element in Hopkins’ poetry; but, generally, they have considered the nature imagery as one of the less important elements of Hopkins' work, confining their criticism to general statements, or limiting their discussion to one, or to a very few, of Hopkins' poems. This thesis attempts to go beyond these generalities. By a thorough investigation of Hopkins' use of nature, it attempts to show that nature imagery constitutes one of the major unifying elements of his poetry. Special attention will be given to the discussion of the "terrible sonnets" whose nature imagery may be said to synthesize the anguish of soul which prompted the poet to write these sonnets. Three groups of poems exemplify nature imagery as a unifying element in Hopkins' poetry: Hopkins' simple nature poetry, his poetry of praise, and the "terrible sonnets." In his simple nature poetry, Hopkins, by expressing his concept of the beauty of nature, allows the reader to share this vision of beauty with him. In the poetry of praise, Hopkins uses nature imagery to express one consistent theme, or "underthought"-- the grandeur of God and man's consequent duty of praise. The "terrible sonnets" celebrate God's power, His justice and His mercy. These seven poems of poignant beauty are Hopkins' expression of the terrible sufferings of the spiritual "nights" in which the only source of hope is God's mercy. The nature imagery in each of these groups is closely connected with Hopkins' poetic theories of inscape and instress. Hopkins considered that the essence of the object is to be found in its individual distinctiveness. Closely connected with the teachings of Duns Scotus, this philosophy provided Hopkins with a basis for his theories of inscape and instress, the key concepts of Hopkins' poetry. In inscape, the intuitive glance which follows the sensuous perception of the object allows the beholder to see its individually distinctive essence. The word "instress" is used by Hopkins to mean two different principles. At times, "instress" is used to express the principle of actuality of the object; at other times, to define the total effect which an individual inscape produces upon the one who sees it. Hopkins' poetic techniques are a natural result of his theories of inscape and instress. In an effort to express inscape accurately he sought to reproduce in his poetry exactly what he saw and what he heard. He called into play all the resources of language, of nature imagery, of poetic techniques and of prosody which he could command; and he produced a poetry which is at once dynamic, original, and beautiful. An understanding of Hopkins' theology of nature is also basic to the correct interpretation of his poetry. To Hopkins, all nature is a manifestation, an "utterance" of God; each separate object "utters" God in its own individual way. This sacramental view of nature was the result of Hopkins' unique ability to see things at once on both a natural and a supernatural level. He expresses the "underthought" of God, or of man's relations to God, by means of the "overthought" of nature. Nature imagery is, therefore, one of the principled unifying elements of Hopkins' poetry. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to explore relationships within different worlds. These include the relationship within the world of family, both mine and those of people I am close to; the relationship between the worlds of the material and the metaphysical; between the worlds of waking and dreaming; between the worlds of humanity and nature; and finally, between the worlds of good and evil. The poems are also meant to examine the lines between these seemingly disparate worlds. especially in instances when the lines become blurred, as they do so often for me. The work is influenced heavily - and oftentimes constructed entirely out of- dreams, which I've experienced in vivid color and detail nearly every night of my life. It also draws upon my experience as shaped by different environments, which include nature, my ancestral homeland of India, and, of course, my dreams. Most importantly, this work is my attempt to bring to light the hidden magic in these worlds, environments, and relationships, to remind people of the powerful magic that is infused in all things, and how the smallest details in life can continue to influence us well after we'd ever expect them to.

No description available.

This doctoral thesis involves two components, a book length collection of poems and a critical study of ‘Herbert White’ and ‘Ellen West’ by Frank Bidart. The collection of poems, The Coagulate, consists of four parts: 1) Semi-personal poems focusing on nature both in a general sense and in specific reference to the natural British landscape. 2) Poems that explore the nature-based myths and contemporary social idiosyncrasies of Japan.3) Poems that explore the social perception of mental illness and the individual voices that exist in spite psychological classification.4) Poems by an alter-ego and pseudonym named Lee Cole, a completely foreign perspective to my own. These poems were written with the intent to adhere to Frank Bidart’s concept of Herbert White as ‘all that I was not.’ However, unlike Bidart, these poems attempt to remove the presence of the poet and forgo the use of a feint. The collection is organised with contexture in mind rather than chronology. Poems build upon one another and one section flows into the next causing the book to have a fluid quality. The critical component examines Bidart’s treatment of two mentally ill characters in respect to the establishment of the form, style, and voice that would become a hallmark of his poetry. Chapter 1 looks at the first poem of Bidart’s first book, ‘Herbert White.’ This chapter examines how Bidart’s unique use of typography, voice, Freudian theory, and the sharing of the poet’s history contributed to the crafting of a mentally ill character and the contexture of Golden State. It suggests that the inclusion of the poet, a stable presence in comparison to White, allows the reader to recognise certain universal human personality traits in a character that seems inhuman. Chapter 2 examines how Bidart crafted ‘Ellen West,’ a character just as unlike Bidart as ‘Herbert White.’ Central to this analysis is the examination of how to construct a character struggling with identity. It also examines the use of dramatic monologues and how ‘Ellen West’ fits into a form with a flexible definition. As with Chapter 1, Chapter 2 examines how Bidart uses the poet’s self to add to a fictional narrative and how that reflects upon his personal poetry, indicating that Bidart’s use of the self is a redirection from how the Confessional poets used first-person.

The subject of this thesis is a characterisation of key motivic units in lyrical works of Jaroslav Vrchlický and Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic, thus it explores Czech parnassian and decadent poetry of the end of 19th century. It observes and traces literal, esthetical and thought shifts of both authors from the aspect of various motives usage. The thesis is divided into five chapters, each of them dealing with one specific motivic unit. The chapters are: 1. Motives of woman, body and sexuality. 2. Motives of dream, imaginary and escape. 3. Motives of dying, disease and decay. 4. Motives of depressiveness, grief, bitterness and vanity. 5. Motives of nature and landscape. Each chapter compares these motives, examines their usage by both authors and looks at how their form and expression undergo a process of certain changes. It also focuses on those motives that appear as completely new elements in their poetry. The conclusion provides with brief summaries of all chapters and a short look through frequency word dictionary of relevant volumes of poems.