Gerard Manley Hopkins

Frank Fennell, Jr. (Loyola University of Chicago)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Dates

Born 28 Jul 1844
Died 8 Jun 1889
Activity 1875-1889

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Clergyman
Man/ Woman of Letters
Poet

Resources

For a man who lived most of his relatively short life in obscurity, Gerard Manley Hopkins holds a remarkably high place in modern appreciation of the literature of the Victorian age. Startlingly innovative and deeply expressive, Hopkins had to wait for the twentieth century Modernists to discover his verse and respond enthusiastically to his originality. Today his unique combination of fresh observation, distinctive cadence, penetrating self-analysis, and profound spirituality make him one of the most influential and distinctive voices in English poetry.

Hopkins was born 28 July 1844 at Stratford (Essex), the eldest son of Manley Hopkins, a marine insurance adjuster and amateur author and poet, and his wife Kate. The family, w…

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1815 words

Citation: Fennell, Jr., Frank. "Gerard Manley Hopkins". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 August 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2202, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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