Manley wrote this poem in 1877, and it has been reborn, as much other poetry was, as an anthem to nature and the splendor of God after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. People began to want to look deeper into themselves, and the world around them after the tragedy of the terrorist attacks, and this poem strikes a chord somehow, because of its language and celebration of God and nature. It makes people think the good things will endure, no matter how crazy and terrifying the world can get, and part of the reason this poem succeeds is because of how it is written, and the underlying theme of the poem, which is praise and hope.
The poem uses theme and language to illustrate just how grand God is, and how he created one of the grandest of all things – the natural world, which is ever present. Manley writes, “Nature is never spent; here lives the dearest freshness deep down things; and though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs” (Manley). The reader understands that nature will endure, and the beauty and endurance of nature is a direct result of God’s hand. God created a beautiful world for us to live in, where the “dearest freshness” lives, and no matter what, these “deep down things” will endure, and they always have. Because the poem celebrates and praises God and his work, it also makes us understand the goodness of our being here, and our lives.
As one critic wrote, “Hopkins’s poem is an argument of praise. Praise restores us to the world again, to our luckiness of being” (Washington Post, T12).Things may seem dark and frightening, but faith and the celebration of praise can make The language of the poem seems old-fashioned today, but that is part of its charm and strength.
