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TEXT
To Christ our Lord
I caught this morning morning's minion,
Kingdom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
INTRODUCTION
The poem The Windhover as Hopkins observes, was the best thing he had ever written. It was written at St. Beuno’s on May 30, 1877. Out of all the lyrics since the middle of the nineteenth century, The Windhover is the one that has probably attracted the most thought and commentary. As Mackenzie points out: “Dunne’s Bibliography records nearly a hundred approaches to it before 1970 alone....where so much is imaginatively suggested rather than delineated by prosaic statement, each reader feels free to catch his own glimpses of the poet’s mood and his image of ideas, and to disagree with other readings. But as with a diamond viewed from various angles, the impressions created in observers will change as they move, and no ‘final’ reading of the poem can be claimed by students of literature, linguists, theologians or naturalists.”
The poem is a declaration of Christian purpose and a triumphant confirmation of the poet’s personal faith—the faith that was his very existence: “I have not only made my vows publicly some two or twenty times but I make them to myself every day” — the expression reveals that the sonnet was so dear to him.
SUMMARY
In the first stanza i.e. in the Octave the poet describes the movement of the bird falcon. The poet has caught sight of a falcon who is the favorite bird of the daylight, or who is the dauphin of the kingdom of the sun. The poet says that the bird hovers round on the tip of his extended wing, which is described as ‘wimpling’, that is, rippling like a nun’s wimple in movement. This movement of the bird also reminds the poet of a skillful skater sweeping round smoothly “on a bow-bend” that is, while cutting a figure on the ice. The bird circles in the air as though controlling his movement in the wind after the manner of a trainer “ringing on the rein” of a wild horse. The bird pivots round on the tip of his extended wing which is described as “wimpling”. The phrase ‘hurl and gliding’ indicates the bird’s speed, energy, flight and power. The bird constantly hovers in the wind. The poet's heart is thrilled with admiration for the bird. The poet feels flattered to join the bird in its ecstasy. The skill of the bird thus seems to win a triumph over the wind. The poet’s heart is filled with admiration for the bird.
In the sestet, the poet describes that the bird has ‘brute beauty’, ‘valor’ and ‘act’. The beauty is balanced by prime, valor by pride and act by pride. In the flight of the hawk, these three things combine. The poet tells his heart to surrender completely to Christ. Through such a self-surrender, the poet would see a splendor in the falcon. The word ‘thee’ becomes both an address to the falcon as well as to Christ. Christ or the heavenly powers are both lovely as well as dangerous, a terrifying force to the sinful man. Faith in religious life produces a spiritual brightness in the soul.
The embers of a fire may appear to be dying; they may look bleak in their faded blue color, but it is precisely then that these embers fall and bruise themselves, so that they break open and reveal a hidden fire or “gold vermilion”. The poet’s soul too, is “blue-bleak” or seemingly lifeless. But through suffering for the sake of Christ, the poet would experience a spiritual glory. The word “Buckle” may firstly mean to draw together, secondly to engage the enemy and finally to collapse. The word “Buckle” includes the meaning that what was before free in the heights, surrounded by light, unlimited, must now yield to, or become a thing that dwells in the lower darkness. In the last three lines of the sestet, Hopkins introduces the images of a plow and burning coal in order to suggest the spiritual struggle. The plowshare labors below and furrows the soil but for this very reason is whetted so sharply that it shines. So is the case with human mind, that has the will and makes efforts to shine in the light of God. Coals also fall down, break up into pieces tear themselves apart and in the process become brighter. The poet says that in order to achieve Christ we have to make a very hard spiritual struggle. The soul of the individual is “blue-bleak” or seemingly lifeless. But through suffering and mortification for the sake of Christ, the soul of an individual would experience a spiritual glory.
STANZA WISHES EXPLANATIONS
Line 1: Caught: beheld, witnessed.
Morning morning's minion: Falcon is called as darling of the morning. The alliteration, use of three ‘m’s is notable.
Line 2: Kingdom of daylight’s dauphin: The falcon is the crown prince of the kingdom of daylight. Dauphine is a name for the heir to the French throne. The “dauphin” was in France the title of the eldest son of the king of France, the Crown prince, or the royal heir. The phrase is a tribute to the majesty or splendor of the falcon.
dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon: The falcon is drawn from its nest by the multicolored dawn. The falcon is dawn-drawn in the sense of being attracted, of being drawn upwards, into the dapple dawn—as a royal minion might well be attracted into the royal presence.
In his riding: In the course of his flight. The falcon rides the air, as the dauphin might ride on a horse.
Line 3: Of the rolling level underneath him steady air: As the falcon rides the air, the air becomes steady and rolls level underneath him. The air, is rolling but the falcon’s communal is such that it appears level beneath him, and the final impression is of steady air. The expression is an example of Hopkin’s eccentric manner of writing. The noun “air” has two adjectives. One adjective is “steady”; the other is the compound phrase “the rolling level beneath him”. “Steady” means “stable” or “unfaltering”. The other adjective refers to the air as “the rolling level” beneath the falcon. The air beneath the falcon seems to roll as he flies.
Striding: The falcon walks with huge steps high there in the sky, he moves rapidly and forcefully, trots or gallops like a horse.
Line 4: rung upon the rein: The phrase ‘to ring upon the rein’ is an idiom used in horse-training. It means to check the horse circling at the end of a long rein which the trainer is holding in his hand. The birds flight is compared to a young horse trolling in a wide circle on the trainer’s line.
Wimpling: beautifully curving and rippling like a fluttering wimple. Wimpling suggests a rippling motion like the flickering of feathers in a wind, the sort of movement that a flapping wimple would make.
Line 5: In his ecstasy: As the bird battles against the wind, he seems to rejoice in his strength as does the knight in his battle against evil. The phrase calls to mind the struggle of the falcon in relation to the Christian knight.
Then off, off forth on swing: The next moment the bird moves forward on his flight as if on a swing.
Line 6: As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: The bird’s flight is compared to a smooth and swift gliding movement of a skater gliding across ice. A skater while turning bends on his knees; so does the bird flying in the air, so does the horse striding in his ring. ‘Bow-bend’ means a wide arc, or a broad curve like that of a bow.
Line 6: Gliding: smooth movement.
Line 7: Rebuffed the big wind.....Overcame or beat the strong current of air. The whole line means that the falcon, as if in attack, runs up against the big wind and rebuffs it.
Line 7: My heart is hiding: The poet’s heart is in hiding, because he is a sinner and is afraid of Christ. The poet’s heart is timid as compared with the energy, speed, and courage of the Falcon. The phrase has also been linked by some critics with St. Paul’s words: “Set your affections not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God”. The falcon’s example has re-animated his failing purpose.
Line 8: Stirred for a bird: The poet’s heart is stirred by the bird’s energy and vigor.
The achievement of the mastery of the thing: The poet’s heart is stirred by the achievement of the bird, by the bird’s splendor, by the bird’s control over the natural elements.
Line 9: Brute beauty and valor and act oh, air pride, plume: “Brute Beauty” simply means “natural beauty”. Hopkins describes this windhover as ‘brute beauty’ full of ‘valor and act’. The bird’s beauty, valor and act are balanced by air, pride and plume. Beauty, valor and act are balanced by air, pride and plume. Beauty is balanced by plume, valor by pride, and act by air: beauty because of plume; valor gives rise to pride; and the act is riding the air. The bird’s attributes and qualities are specified in an admiring manner.
Line 10: Buckle: bring together, as under one discipline.
AND the fire that breaks from thee then: The capital used for the word ‘AND’ is to give importance in the development of the thought. ‘Fire’ means God’s glory. Nothing literally happens to the falcon, but his beauty and pride metaphorically buckle into insignificance in the power of the revelation he brings with him. The falcon reveals God’s majesty in a sudden flash; the divine fire of energy breaks out when the poet sees the falcon.
Line 10-11: A billion / Times told lovelier: The supernatural beauty of the divine fire is billion times lovelier. The whole phrase qualifies the word “fire” and emphasizes the supernatural beauty of the divine fire.
Line 11: more dangerous: Christ is dangerous. He is a terrifying force to the sinful man.
O my chevalier: ‘Chevalier’ is used both for Christ and the falcon. The bird falcon is recognized as the mortal representative of the divine presence. ‘Chevalier’ is a term from French medieval chivalry used in associations with royalty, knighthood, heroism, gentleness, beauty and valor. The expression reveals Hopkins’s meditation upon Christ’s scholarship and kingship.
Line 12: Sillion: furrow in the ground.
Lines 12-13: No wonder....embers: The divine glory is manifested through the falcon. The heart of a servant of God has been purified by the practice of religious obedience and because of that heart will shine and instantly reflect God’s glory on seeing it. In all this there is no cause for surprise.
Lines 13-14: And blue-bleak embers...and gash gold-vermilion: Gold and vermilion are royal colors. Hopkins continues with the idea expressed in the image of plowshare. Coals while in fire, fall down break into pieces and in the process become brighter. Hopkins through these lines wanted to express that in order to achieve Christ’s grace we have to make a very hard spiritual struggle. ‘Gash gold vermilion’ may mean color of fire, of Christ’s flood, or hawk seen in the background of the morning sun. It also suggests the redness of Christ’s blood and it puts us in the context of Christ’s crucifixion.
The expression also conveys the idea through self-destruction and self-sacrifice to achieve greater strength and courage. The human mind, that has the will, and makes efforts, shines in the light of God.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The sonnet The Windhover is Hopkins’s favorite poem. The poem has a subtitle—To Christ our Lord. Which is quite significant. The pivotal theme of the poem is that the “brute beauty” of the falcon is only a faint flash of the splendor of Christ. The power and energy of Christ belong to a different order and are “a billion / Times told lovelier, more dangerous”. The falcon belongs to the material world and Hopkins finds in the bird not merely an analogy for Christ’s spiritual beauty; Hopkins is also pointing to the hidden and terrible splendor of sacrificial suffering. The wonder of physical beauty in the world of Nature is to be ultimately, as a clue to a sustaining spiritual the splendor of the falcon is only a fraction of that which breaks from Christ himself. Christ’s sacrificial suffering is conveyed through the images of buckling, gashing and galling which recall the crucifixion. The images of painful ‘plod’ and ‘bleak embers’ are also relevant as conveying the lot of those who follow Christ in a religious order.
In the opening line, the poet says that in the morning he caught sight of a hawk whom he describes as “morning’s minion”, “kingdom of daylight’s dauphin”. Dauphin is an image of royal crown. The bird is presented as the prince of the kingdom of the Sun and finally, the bird is called as “dapple-dawn-drawn falcon”. The bird “rides” on the air, which rolls “level” and steady underneath him; thus, implicitly the image of a ship traveling on the swell of a gently rolling sea is brought into play.
The bird appears next as a young horse trotting in a wide circle on a trainer’s line. Hopkins uses superhuman terms when he says that the bird is “striding”. The bird is flying in a circle and the true beating of his wings produces sound. The falcon is in a state of ecstasy. The bird here becomes a skater. A skater while turning, bends on his skates; so does the bird flying in the air; so does the horse striding in his ring. The “big wind” is being rebuffed by the bird with its wings, indicating “wind-hover’s” speed, energy, flight and power. The image changes once more, and the bird as if in attack runs up against the “big wind” and rebuffs it.
If Nature is a mirror of God, man is an even nobler mirror of God’s beauty and grandeur, while Christ was the very image of the Divinity, designed to represent as in a double mirror, not only the glories of God to himself but also to all the world; and he glorifies God by the instrument of obedience, in which God beheld His own dominion. Hopkins freely employs these three mirrors (physical, moral, divine) of God’s beauty and grandeur.
But poet’s heart is sinking, because lie is a sinner and is afraid of Christ. But he appreciates the bird’s power which has a sense of wonder—“the achieve of the mastery of the thing I” is the observer’s cry on seeing it revealed and consummate. The bird becomes something strange.
To quote a critic, “Every thing in reality brought to its highest pitch. The light drenched atmosphere of dawn, the powerful flight, the vigor of the bird’s circling—Nature verges on an ecstatic self-transcendence. The ecstasy here described di tiers from mythical versions in that Nature does not remain self-contained but answers a higher power that strives to reveal itself through nature.” The observer’s feeling also responds to it: ‘My heart is hiding/Stirred for a bird’. The deeply excited beating of his heart is itself a kind in the heights, surrounded light, unlimited, must now yield to or become a thing that dwells in the lower darkness. The Being of which the poem had all the time spoken is now directly addressed with the old-fashioned ceremonial ‘Thee’. From him breaks the fire, and the sufferer becomes a “chevalier”. Christ is merciful to those who are pure in their hearts. At the same time Christ is dangerous, a terrifying force to the sinful man. Thus these two aspects of Christ are to be found in Christianity.”
There is no cause for surprise in the greatness of God. In the last three lines of the sestet Hopkins introduces the images of a plough and burning coal in order to suggest the spiritual struggle. In order to achieve Christ we have to make a very hard spiritual struggle.
In this sonnet, Hopkins has become quite an intensely religious poet. The poet conveys the idea that through self-sacrifice and self-destruction we achieve greater strength and courage.
Whom or what is Hopkins addressing with his ‘thee’ and his ‘O my chevalier’? probably Hopkins is addressing Christ and his heart and the falcon, for they are improbable. Falcon is the symbol of Christ, the intermediary of God, and of earthly beauty as far as it represents God's influence or inspirations. The poet makes spiritual humility to win an easy victory over “brute beauty, valor and act,” but this victory is not won by crushing the brute beauty; it is won by catching it to the hidden heart which reflects it back to God.
The alliteration in the first three lines of the sonnet conveys the hovering emphasis of the falcon’s movements. The full impact of the sonnet The Windhover can be felt only if we are conversant with the imagery employed in some of his other poems. For instance the paradox of sheer plod makes plough down sillion / Shine’ is brightly illuminated in the poem. Contemplating his “joyless days, dejection”, “flesh fade, and mortal trash”, he reflects that:
“This jack, joke, poor potsherd,patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,”
This “immoital diamond” of ecstasy, has been caught up in the process of revelation. “It was the revelation of Christ; through the beauty of “daylight’s dauphin” the glory of the Son”. The bird’s beauty valor and act are balanced by air, pride and plume. Beauty is balanced by plume, valor by pride and act hy air; beauty because of plume; valor gives rise to pride and the act is riding the air. These things join in Christ also. “Here” may also mean in the heart of the poet. “Buckle” has many connotations; it may mean falling in the middle because of weight. It reminds us of crucifixion. In this act of crucifixion, the greatest act of valor and beauty took place. “Buckle” may also mean firstly to draw together, secondly to engage the enemy and finally to collapse. The word “Buckle” includes that what was before free in the range of the experience and multiplicity of integrated perceptions to be found here are not commonly met with in poetry. In this sonnet, the poet has used sprung rhythm. There are five stresses per line, but with extra-metrical or “outriding” feet. Hopkins with his vivid and fiery imagination sustains the parallelism between the windhover and Christ throughout the poem. The poet conveys the idea through self-sacrifice and self-destruction to achieve greater strength and courage.