An Aspect of Early 20th century in Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Wreck of the Deutschland - Essay Example

An Aspect of Early 20th century in Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Wreck of the Deutschland" Gerard Manley Hopkins was a Catholic priest who wrote "The Wreck of the Deutschland" poem because it was an actual incident in history. He was so moved by it that he sat down and wrote the poem. The Deutschland was a ship that in 1875 crashed and sunk off the coast of Bremen. Five Catholic nuns were on board and died on the ship. The nuns were heroic in saving some of the people on board so Manley wrote the poem to honor them (Kelley 2008). The poem is written to attest to the differences between the individual and religion. He uses many symbols in the poem to look at life in a philosophical way. He uses many devices to show that God is mightier than the individual themselves because when all else fails God is there to save the masses (Tilley 2003). In the beginning aspects of the poem Manley talks about a specific incidence of his own that happened to him without reference to God. This sets the stage for the juxtaposition between God and man. As the "part the first" is read it is clear that Manley has reached out to God to let him know that no matter what he is given as a man, he acknowledges God as the one who gives him trials or joy. He wholeheartedly puts himself in the hands of God and stands waiting to allow God to give him anything that he wishes to hand to him. He speaks of the trials and tribulations as just more aspects of how he must go through life and accept that God has given him the strength and the courage to go through anything. He gives the indication that he will continue to let God move him forward whether he is given positive or negative situations because he knows that God will prevail. Although Keating calls this a dilemma for the reader, it seems to set the stage for the next aspects. It seemed somewhat appropriate that Manley would start the poem with his own religious experience and illumination because the wreck of the ship touched him so much. It would seem that he is setting the stage to look at the wreck through the eyes of someone who has already accepted that God is bigger than man could ever see or understand. As he moves into the story of the wreck in "Part the Second" he is beginning to tell the tale of the wreck itself. He says that God has already decided the fate of the ship ("The goal was a shoal, of a fourth the doom to be drowned") [Bartleby.com stanza 94] and he now is watching to see what will happen. Manley puts a lot of emotion into the poem because it brings out the idea that his own soul is in anguish after having read about this wreck and he sees how God has determined the fate of these people. It seems that he is attempting to figure out the "why" of this event through the eyes of religion. Keating suggests that Manley is bewildered by what happened and that this bewilderment was " It was the bafflement of mans mind confronted by a certainly paradoxical universe and a seemingly paradoxical God" (Keating 23). In the poem, like with other poems of the time, Manley is examining his own moral and spiritual experience against that larger one of the universe. He always points out that God is the larger aspect of the situation and that the individual cannot understand the vastness of the world around them without the understanding that God is in control. According to Keating, there are four paradoxes that the reader is asked to look at through Manleys lens: 1. the severity and the compassion of God; 2. the terror and the beneficence of the universe; 3. the insignificance and the worth of man; and 4. the weakness and the vitality of the Church. (Keating 23) The first paradox is shown throughout the poem in the way that he describes what happened. Stanzas 92 through 95 show that the intent of the situation was to send the 200 souls to their death which is the severity of God. At the end of the event, God shows his compassion by taking the women swiftly in their plight for death. They have done what they could as brave women and now as the last woman cries out, God shows his compassion. The second paradox is shown as the storm continues and the people on the ship are faced with the isolation and "nowness" that happens inside a terrible event like a storm. They are doing what they can to maintain but somewhere they understand that the universe is much bigger than "man" and therefore must be dealt with on its terms: Hope had grown grey hairs, hope had mourning on, Trenched with tears, carved with cares. Hope was twelve hours gone And a frightful a nightfall folded rueful a day Nor rescues, only rocket and lightship shown. (Bartleby.com Stanzas 113-118). Paradox 3, the insignificance and the worth of man is a point that Manley shows throughout the poem because he feels the enormity of the universe and the smallness of man. His images of the way the storm worked with people and worked to kill them shone through stanzas like: One stirred from the rigging to save The wild woman-kind below, With a ropes end round the man, handy and brave- He was pitched to his death at a blow (Bartleby.com Stanzas 121-125). These stanzas give a very strong image of not only what happened but the fact that even in helping someone else the universe can decide to eliminate the individual. In this respect God is saying that although the individual has done a good dead, he (man) still has to be sacrificed. The weakness and vitality of the church is apparent because although the nuns were devote and attempted to save anyone, they too are sacrificed in the end. They were brave and god fearing but in the end, God took them away as part of the total sacrifice. In this manner, the church was not strong enough to keep these people from death although the individuals were praying and asking for help. Soumyajit suggests that man is always being dealt blows by the universe and it is often difficult not to strike back at him as a human response. The author speaks about the difficulty that man has with the universe and how often they are basically at the whim of misfortune. Soumyajit suggests that Manley is actually showing how man without God and man with God react differently. As an example, the crew and the people on the ship reacted differently than the nuns. Those who had faith showed less fear than those who did not. In Soumyajits words: "He portrays both the kinship of God and man as well as the deep human alienation from a hostile Almighty" (112). It is an interesting note that during the Victorian Era many people felt that God was someone to be feared and that if you did not fear him he might become hostile. Much of the old testament of the bible says the same which is possibly why this was taken so seriously as a theme in the poem. The poem is Hopkinss most extended account of mans relationship with God. By his sinning nature man has violently disturbed the cosmic harmony in the universe (Soumyyajit 112). The poem also seems to be the way that Hopkins makes sense of what happened and eases his own conscience about the horrible death of the people on this ship. He is looking at it from the lens of how terrible man is and how he cannot help but be wretched in the eyes of God. Miller suggests: It is Christ that has driven the nuns westward from their sanctuary. He has unchancelled them. He is the master of martyrs, the ruler who commands and judges them, but he can be their leader only because he is himself the master of martyrs… (25). In a sense there is irony in this situation because the nuns needed a sanctuary outside of Germany since they were exiled from it. Although this is an interesting way for them to find sanctuary it is a common occurrence when man works with or against nature. As in the real event, Manley redeems everyone at the end of the poem including the reader. The last stanza of the poem, "Pride rose, prince, hero of us, high-priest, Our hearts charitys hearths fir, our thoughts chivalrys throngs Lord" (Bartleby.com Stanza 270-280) seems to be the total redemption of everyone and a final praise to the Lord who is the almighty savior. Works Cited Hopkins, George Manley. "The Wreck of the Deutschland". Poem. 29 April 2009 . Keating, John E. The Wreck of the Deutschland: An Essay and Commentary. Ohio: Kent State University Press. 1963. Kelley, Brian. "The Wreck of the Deutschland". 2008. Catholicism.org. 30 April 2009. Miller, Joseph Hillis. Victorian Subjects. US: Duke University Press, 1991. 30 April 2009 < http://books.google.com/books?id=VgMB9- tMSMoC&printsec=copyright&dq=the+wreck+of+deutschland&client=firefox-a. Soumyajit, Samanta. Lovescape Crucified. India: Sarup & Sons. 2005. 29 April 2009. . Tilly, Ruth. "Gods Terrible Beauty in The Wreck of the Deutschland ". 2003. The Victorian Web. 26 April 2009 Read More