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Summary
Hopkins answers himself the reasons behind the fervent prayers of the nun. The nun prayed not because she wanted to escape from the painful prevailing conditions. Here the heaven did not have any attraction for her. She didn’t have any intention also to escape the threatening thunderstorm. But she was tired to the extreme. The tiring humdrum life, the duties owe has to perform religiously in daily life and the sorrows of life which depress minds and heart. The tiring burden prompted her to seek relief from this life. The only source of relief from this is to contemplate on the sufferings of Christ and pray adventure in solitude. The poet says that there is a difference between the thoughts and prayers of the nun and the others. While others were feeling oppressed by the high rising waves the nun was by the daily life.
Line by Line Analysis
Lines 1-2: No, but it was of the casrt: The chief nun didn’t cry out or prayed because of these reasons.
The jading and jar of the cart: the tiring humdrum life.
Lines 3-4: Time’s tasking.....sorrowing heart
The unpleasant and burdensome duties that one has to perform.
sodden: dull. The heart has been dulled by sorrows.
Lines 5-8: Not danger.....endragoned seas: The threatening dangers of the sea storm were also not the reasons. Passion refers to the physical torture that Christ underwent at the time of his crucifixion. Dwelling on the sufferings of Christ can give mental and spiritual comfort.
I gather: this is what poet concludes or says.
burly: confusion
endragoned seas: seas behaving like dragon.
The chief nun called out because of her frustrations with the daily routine life. The human beings can find comfort in the solitary contemplation on God. The burden on the nun’s mind was something different from the burden occupying the minds of other passengers.