Lennard Chow · 22 December 1999

One of the most beautiful pieces of poetry indeed. I am still awaiting someone to give a detailed explanation of stanzas 3 & 4, though

Alistair SCOTT · 28 March 2000

A phenomenal poem. Sends shivers down my spine every time I read it. Hopkins’ mastery of the language is well-nigh perfect.

Alistair Scott

michaelmas · 20 August 2000

A wonderful spiritual poem - most beautiful!

Kay Terry · 3 April 2002

I can offer one interpretation of stanzas 3 and 4; one recurring theme in GMH’s poems is the contrast between outward appearances and inward reality. The Windhover demonstrates this.

Here he contrasts not only the unbridgeable gap between the wondrous physical abilities of the bird, and the pedestrian, gravity-held ponderous capabilities of people; but also examines the opposing natures of his own outward appearance and the inner, bright-burning love he has for God. In stanza 3, he attempts to demonstrate the magnitude of that love. For all the grace, beauty and effortless majesty displayed by the bird, how much greater is the reward to GMH of a moment of communion with God - ‘a billion times told lovelier, O my chevalier.’ The wonder of the falcon’s flight ‘here Buckles…’ - comes to nought - when held in comparison with that soul-searing moment when God stands near.

You see, GMH, as a Jesuit priest in the RC Church, wore dull, duly humble clothing, covering him from head to foot. In addition, he was not a physically prepossessing person, and he knew that, if judged only by appearances, he would not be considered all that glorious an example of God s love and grace. As is the bird.

In stanza 4, the explanation; and again the metaphors for contrasting outer drab with inner glory. ‘ No wonder of it: sheer plod makes plough down sillion shine..’. A sillion is the blade of a plough, that cuts down into the earth, unseen, and is covered by the brown of the earth. The action of the plough blade cutting through the soil wears the blade bright, shining and clean. ‘Sheer plod’ - the dogged pursuit of the ploughing activity causes the shining result. Like GMH with his glorious inner fire for God covered by the brown of his priests’ habit; and the ‘sheer plod’ of the daily devotions, contemplations and efforts of his service as a priest will hone, brighten and clean his inner, hidden soul to the same perfection of appearance. The ‘blue-bleak embers’ - refer to the appearance of an ember, when it cools to a dull, grey-brown outer crust; but when it falls from the grate to the hearth and breaks open (‘fall, gall themselves..’) it reveals the bright, hot, brilliantly alive centre - (‘gash gold-vermilion).

Thus GMH wants to say that his uninspiring outer crust - his frail body and priests clothing, likewise conceal just such a wondrous burning ‘gold vermilion’ love for God that effectively equalises him with the bird in its outward beauty.

Anyway, that’s how I see stanzas 3 and 4. I hope I haven’t just written someone’s GMH assignment for them.

Kay Terry

Robert Madden · 25 July 2002

Hopkins’ “The Windhover”

Stanza 1:
The writer gushes about the flight of a falcon. Stanza 2:
The writer particularly admires the falcon’s sharp swooping moves. A continuation of the theme from stanza 1, “… off forth on a swing, As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding…” When the falcon “buckles”, it’s more exciting to watch. The “fire that breaks forth” on these “dangerous” passes is the best part of the flying, for the same reason that people pay to see a very good ice skater do dangerous jumps instead of just gliding around the rink. Hopkins admires the bravery of the act, although a falcon is probably not sensible of courage.
Stanza 3:
We should not be surprised that a falcon can swoop masterfully. The simple act of pulling a plow’s blade through a furrow polishes the blade shiny, i.e. this bird does it every day, all day long. The falcon has had a lot of practice and has been polished by the effort. “Sillon” is a French word for a slot, furrow, or wrinkle. But sillon doesn’t quite rhyme with vermillion. Sillion is a French family name, possibly derived from sillon. He must have searched long and hard for this rhyme, eh?
The part about the “blue-bleak embers” falling and making a lively display of sparks in their final death seems out of place with the preceding line. From a seemingly hopeless situation comes a brilliant flash of light. Also incongruous is the phrase about “gall themselves, and gash”. To gall something is to rub it raw by friction, or to cause it irritation and injury. Doesn’t sound like something an ember does when it breaks. To gash is to make a long, deep cut. Both verbs go better with the “plow” line. The plow blade galls itself as it gashes the soil to make a sillon. In the embers line, he presents another example of something that through “buckling” is seen more glorious than it was in its former, “bleak” state. The falcon doesn’t suffer any injury from swooping, so it’s a stretch. To lace these two images together, he galled and gashed them. This poem is probably a diffuse mixture of metaphors about the public ministry, flogging, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, who revealed the glory of his life through suffering and dying. Jesus also told parables about sowing the seed of the good news of the gospel. Hopkins’ dedication of the poem is “To Chist Our Lord”.

RM

Jkenath · 29 July 2002

One of GMH’s masterpieces, if not the one. I read it nearly everyday and yet have it imperfectly memorized, perhaps one very, very day I shall truly catch the Falcon in “his striding high there…”

Robeto Persivale · 4 September 2002

The first stanza indicates that the narrator saw a beautiful image of a Falcon in the morning sunlight. The narrator includes a vivid reply to morning minion’s flight. “I caught this morning morning’s minion,” In this first line of the poem and the poet is speaking about something “Minion”, lovely, he saw that morning, and in the next line he indicates the Falcon is morning’s minion. The Falcon is personified as prince or ruler of dawn and this is explained through the poet’s use of the word “dauphin.” “Kingdom of daylight’s dauphin” indicates the Falcon is the prince of the day, “Kingdom”. “Dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon,” This is a description the poet uses to explain the Falcon’s flight. Besides the Falcon’s power and beauty, the narrator noticed it’s been “drawn” by the morning light.

“High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing in his ecstasy!” tells me that the Falcon’s flight was done in a simple, elegant, and beautiful way. The poet notes a change in the Falcon’s flight. This is shown when the narrator uses a strong word like “ecstasy.” “Then off, off forth on swing,” Changes the tone as if something has happened. “As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend.” This simile shows the splendor of the Falcon’s change in flight. The last sentence describes the poet’s own feelings about how he felt when he saw this. “My heart in hiding Stirred for a bird,– the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!”

The second stanza consists of things that indicate the poet’s enthusiasm as he saw the Falcon fly down to his prey, with words like “oh”. “Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here Buckle!” Indicates how the bird went down on its prey. The second exclamation is the reaction that Hopkins has to what he is seeing. The Falcon flew bravely at this moment and the poet ends the second stanza with “O my chevalier!”, or knight.

In this last stanza the poet has makes it clear that the bird’s flight makes the land below shine like the shine of the morning sunlight. The “blue-bleak embers” refer to the blue sky that the Falcon flies through. It ends with the poet saying “ah my dear, Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.” Probably speaking to the Falcon. This part of the poem expresses something different from the rest sense of the poem.

In conclusion the poem is a poet’s passionate reaction of a Falcon’s flight. He saw the Falcon’s flight in the morning and he was impressed by its magnificence. We can say that the poem show us a relationship between a man and a bird, when he talks to the bird “O my chevalier,” and expresses his admiration through the powerful words he uses.

Peter Rivard · 1 December 2002

Interesting variety of takes on the last two stanzas. Given the poem’s subtitle, which for whatever reason was omitted here (“For Christ our Lord”) and Hopkins insistence, as a Jesuit priest, on the physicality of the incarnation, I imagine, in addition to the points made above, a clearer identification of the falcon and Christ. After its beautiful soaring, the falcon buckles–goes into a fall. It pulls in its wings and plummets. In yielding to gravity, it becomes both more awe-inspiring and more dangerous to its enemies–a falcon dives to kill, after all.
In the eyes of a believer, Christ achieves his full majesty and awesome power over his enemy–sin and death itself–when he buckles. Only in yielding his body to be broken on the cross does achieve his destiny (or purpose, if you prefer), and his power is then revealed to be far greater than he’d shown in his life.
To me, both readings–mine and the “inner glory” described above–seem to be in play (note that the embers don’t reveal their inner beauty, they “gash” it when they fall and break apart; the soil reveals its beauty, too, when a wound is ripped into it by the plow).

cssrlimerick · 22 November 2003

As I stood on my childhood’s favourite beach in County Clare in Ireland, ten years ago, and reflected on my recent experience of burn-out, and the blessing that it became to me, I saw a whole new meaning in this poem, ‘The Windhover- To Christ the Lord’. I was the one who had been ‘striding high there’,’hurling and gliding’, experiencing ‘the achieve of, the mastery…’ I had busy about many things, -too many things- and living ‘ the riding of the rolling level underneath him steady air’. Life was achieving and doing. And then the crash,- ‘…pride, plume here Buckle’ AND (the Capital letters here signify the changed situation)- the Buckling of life, the collapse, the powerlessness and loss of nerve and confidence, the entering into the cave of Sorrow and spending the necessary time with Sorrow, the re-discovering of the pain within, - all of this became a great Blessing, a Gift. And in the buckling came a new life, richer and more real. ‘The fire that breaks from thee then, billion times told lovelier…- the blue-bleak fall and gash gold-vermillion’. The ‘buckling’ of the busy, active one leads to a new depth, ‘a billion times told lovelier’. For all the glory of the Christ, in his miracles and preaching, the ‘buckling’ in his passion, the silence and utter helplessness of him before his accusers and on the cross are ‘ a billion times told lovlier’. A great parable of all this is to be found in the film ‘(Captain) Hook’, about the ever-busy Peter Pan having to become like a child to find himself again. The sick, the wheel-chair bound, can often show to us ‘the fire that breaks from thee then’,- in their courage. When the seeming dark embers collapse, what a wonderful flame within is revealed to us,- they ‘gash gold vermilion’. Seamus Devitt, C.Ss.R.

Miranda Thomas · 30 March 2005

this is my favourite poem without doubt.
I especially like
“No wonder of it: sheer plod makes plough down sillion Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.”

jact

Richard Masters · 26 April 2005

This is one of my favourite poems from one of my favourite Poets.

I have read all of the comments from others.

But I feel they have all missed something. Hopkins being a Jesuit was a very sexually repressed person.

In my humble view, his last three words “gash gold vermillion” were recognition of the sexuality of the creature which gave him great awe as much as its beauty. I have read that a former version ended in “For me”.

Richard

Richard Masters · 26 April 2005

I am a huge Hopkins fan

I don’t really any other poets who have managed to conquer sprung rhythm to the same extent.

I think the “gash vermillion for me” does it for me.

Richard

John Mijac · 11 May 2005

Regarding the reference to sillion in G.M. Hopkins’ poem, by Kay Terry, I wonder where Terry found the reference to sillion being a plow? After much research, I concluded that sillion was most likely a variant of sillionite, which is an old (and obscure) term for decayed mica found in rich soils. This seems more likely to me and makes more contextual sense, while also elevating the meaning of the verse even more (to my mind.) So, rather than the tool being sharpened by the work, the “plowing” reveals the shine (of the mica flecks) to man of God in creation.

John Mijac

John Mijac · 11 May 2005

Regarding the reference to sillion in G.M. Hopkins’ poem, by Kay Terry, I wonder where Terry found the reference to sillion being a plow? After much research, I concluded that sillion was most likely a variant of sillionite, which is an old (and obscure) term for decayed mica found in rich soils. This seems more likely to me and makes more contextual sense, while also elevating the meaning of the verse even more (to my mind.) So, rather than the tool being sharpened by the work, the “plowing” reveals the shine (of the mica flecks) to man of God in creation.

John Mijac

eid · 15 May 2005

The Patriots stretch out their wings over the earth to bring peace and democracy? Has Hopkin’s vision of a gash gold-vermillion gratied? - It is nothing, but a chain of words intertwined to expose the anarchy of living….. Regards, Abd.kareem

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Edinjock · 4 November 2005

I think Kay Terry comes closest to the meaning, especially in her comments on Hopkins’ own feelings about his drab pedestrian life. Nearly all the other commentators miss the spiritual and theological element in the poem. The poem is so dense that I find new meaning and insight every time I read it.

John Irvine.

Walker Meade · 17 July 2006

Hopkins….Windhover…your question stanzas three and four….

Try this….

All our vain worldy triumphs must be broken, we must give it up in order to comprehend the divine fire of the love of the Christ.

It is hard work—not polish–that shines the plough share and the embers of the fire fall of their own accord and become beautiful. By the way a “Sillion” is not the blade of a plough as Kay Terry suggests. It is a furrow.

It is a splendid poem isn’t it. Walker.

Norm Maser · 12 March 2007

Some interesting takes on this. Peter Rivard accurately notes that the subtitle, “To Christ Our Lord”, has been ommitted, reasons unknown. But that subtitle, along with Hopkins vocation, surely suggest a spiritual connection between the bird and The Christ, or at least that the bird inspires him to a greater understanding of The Christ.

I have read other interpretations, so over-the-top slanted to the spiritual side that they seem highly improbable. But as a poet myself, I see this a a stroke of incredible inspiration, not of calculated, intentional message. I believe that the poets meaning upon writing it is not so important as the readers interpretation upon reading, and many beautiful and appreciative interpretations have been forwarded here. This poem has inspired many, and continues to inspire us to look at the beauty of the world around us, and the one inside us, and to question and revere both. I think Hopkins would feel affirmed by this modest yet glorious legacy.

Norm Maser

Flom Barbara M · 9 May 2007

Windhover is still one of my favorite poems after 40+ years of reading poetry. The rhythm, density of imagery, and passion bring tears to my eyes and chills to my spine. In thinking about the contrast between “outer” and “inner” reality (as a few commentators have ably noted), note that there is a also dual image in the falcon “buckling”. Physically, the falcon plunges toward prey, an exciting maneuver – but suddenly (“AND”, in all caps, announces the transition), reality itself buckles before the poet’s eyes! Hopkins’ heart, “stirred”, makes the identification that was lurking there all along. He sees “inside” the Falcon and discovers God there. God is in all of His creation, of course, but most of us go around most of the time not seeing it. So the Falcon (the dauphin or “prince” of morning) is Christ – Christ as the one who replaces/vanquishes Lucifer (before his rebellion, the former ‘prince of morning’). And the plunge, as someone else noted, mirrors Christ’s descent to death to save us – his “prey”. A few other dual meanings (which Hopkins loved) in the final stanza are worth noting: the reference to embers that “fall” and “gall themselves” are additional hints of Christ’s Passion and death – the Gospels say that he fell twice while walking up to Calvary, and the soldiers gave him (sheep’s) gall to drink when he was on the Cross.

Peter Garrison · 30 June 2007

I would interpret “sillion” differently. “Plow down sillion” does not make much sense if a sillion is a plow blade; but it isn’t. It is the furrow created by the plow. The OED cites this as a “nonce-use” – that is, a single instance of a word with this meaning. The normal, and obsolete, meaning of “sillion” is a narrow strip of land in a field which is divided up (presumably by furrows) for use by multiple farmers. “Sillon” in French means “furrow” – cf the Marseillaise, with its prayer that the impure blood of tyrants and their henchmen “slake our furrows” – and (for me at least) the word has a resonance of the French “sillage,” meaning “wake” in the sense of the wake of a boat. I had always connected the furrow/wake image with “sheer plod” by way of the shine tamped earth takes on when tramped down by man- or horse-foot; but it may be that Hopkins instead intended the shine of the clean cut made by the plow blade in the earth. The metaphorical connection, of course, is to the suddenly-revealed beauty hidden in ordinary and dull (blue-bleak) things.

Peter Garrison

Tom McMahon · 20 August 2007

great1

alan · 7 March 2008

Thanks for your explanation of “The Windhover, To Christ Our Lord”. It has increased my appreciation of the Poem immensely. I am writing a short story, novellette, called “The flight of the Kestrel”, basically a coming of age story about a kid who has a very hard time growing up in one of the last remaining schools of the Victorian era with all the fagging and flogging still intact. At the end of the story which takes place at the end of the sixties the kid, an autobiographical self, bunks out of the boarding house to go and work as a taxi cab cleaner in the early hours of Saturday mornings. At the end of his very first shift, exhausted from his work and from getting up at 2 o’clock in the morning he has an ‘out of body’ experience. He transmogrifies, shape shifts, into a Kestrel which just also happens to be the name of the school which he attends. So he becomes a Kestrel, the real thing, and soars above his school and the city which holds it and overcomes the underling status which he had to endure during his junior years coupled to a derogatory nickname.

The shape shifting is triggered by the boy remembering that he has to write an essay for his English master on G.M.H.’s ‘Windhover’. He recites the words of the poem to himself and being a manic-depressive on the cusp of exhaustion it reduces him to tears. He wipes his eyes and gets a bit of fluff in one of them. He catches sight of a kestrel in the mirror inside the Taxi workshop (placed so people can see who is coming without bumping into them). Eventually after rubbing his eye quite a bit it dawns upon him (it is almost dawn) that the image of the Kestrel is actually himself - when he moves, it moves likewise. Then of course he is “*off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend” *and this flight sets him free forever. Unfortunately he can never reproduce the precise situation which triggered this event but the memory of it is the key which unlocks the chains of his captivity to the role assigned to him by his peers at the school and more particularly at the boarding house.

Copyright permitting I would like to incorporate “The Windhover, To Christ Our Lord” in my novellette and I would be extremely grateful if I could also incorporate some of your commentary on the interpretation of some of the lines. It is despite it’s great beauty quite a difficult poem to understand. I feel that a full interpretation of the poem is necessary to bring the beauty and the meaning to my readers (that is if I ever have any :-) )

I hope you will reply. I guess you are a lecturer or professor at some University. I managed to complete English Lit. I at University before I dropped out…

Thanks for your time

Alan.