Hello everyone! Today I am going to be talking about a poem instead of sharing some of my own work. The recent days have been increasingly more autumnal. Though it’s been warm, the leaves have been falling at a regular pace, and even this morning there was so much fog it looked like I was walking in a cloud. Due to this I have chosen the poem Spring and Fall written by one of my favorite poets Gerard Manley Hopkins.
However, before the discussion of the poem starts I am going to share with you my preferred drink of choice when reading hopkins. Because of the fall theme I am going to show you how to make the perfect apple cider. Now, you could get homemade superb cider, and these techniques would work with that as well, but these tips are for turning the grocery store cider into delicious spicy cider. First, take out your crockpot. Pour in the cider and then add the spices. This part is very subjective, but I recommend three to four sticks of cinnamon, star anise, and a bit of allspice and nutmeg. Simply set it on low and let the cider sit for two to three hours. A lovely, spicy, warm drink to have whilst reading Hopkins.
Spring and Fall
Márgarét, áre you gríeving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leáves like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! ás the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It ís the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
I love this poem for multiple reasons, but there is one in particular that I think is very important. To me, Hopkins is describing a young girl named Margaret crying over the tree losing its leaves. He then shows through various rhymes and meter that as people grow older they do not cry for trees, they don’t have the same innocent love. He then concludes that she is in fact grieving for the loss of that love, and grieving for man. My favorite thing about the poem is how he captures the spirit of a child and how their world is completely separate from ours even though we’re both living on the same planet. The beauty in weeping for a tree dying is something so peaceful and innocent and his description is fantastic. The way he writes so sporadically yet i such flow really expresses the child-like way of living. It is simply beautiful to me.
Please let me know what you think as well; I love to hear others’ input. Thank you so much for joining me this week.
To return soon,
Eleanor
