'This morning's minion': the passions of Gerard Manley Hopkins

About this course

The course examines Hopkins’s distinctive poetic methods, including sprung rhythm and instress, alongside his responses to nature, faith and emotional conflict. Participants will read and discuss poems and extracts from his journals, considering his conversion to Roman Catholicism, Jesuit life, homoerotic feeling and the decision not to publish his poetry during his lifetime. The course also places Hopkins in conversation with Tennyson and Walt Whitman, and considers his later influence on poets such as W. H. Auden and Dylan Thomas. Teaching combines tutor-led seminar discussion with small-group work and feedback.

What you'll learn

• Explain key features of Hopkins’s poetic approach, including sprung rhythm and instress
• Interpret poems and journal extracts in relation to nature, faith and emotional experience
• Discuss how religious belief, sexuality and publication history shaped Hopkins’s writing and reception
• Assess Hopkins’s relationship to Tennyson and Walt Whitman and his influence on later poets

Is this course right for you?

The course is intended for learners interested in reading and discussing poetry. No particular knowledge or skills are needed, and the all-levels seminar format involves whole-group discussion, reading and smaller discussion groups with feedback.

• Suitable for learners without prior knowledge of Hopkins or formal literature study
• Requires participation in shared reading and discussion

Before you go

• Poems and other course materials will be supplied electronically in advance and on paper at the session.
• A pen may be helpful.