Hopkins: The Mystic Poets

by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Thomas Ryan CSP (Preface by)

Overview

Discover How Hopkins's Spiritual Life and Vision Can Enlighten Your Own

"Poetry and art and music seize upon the human experience in ways that reveal new possibilities of intimacy with the Divine. In the way they reach out and grab us by the heart at unexpected times, they reaffirm that the Holy will meet us when it chooses.…"
—from the Preface by Rev. Thomas Ryan, CSP

Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christian mystical poet, is beloved for his use of fresh language and startling metaphors to describe the world around him. Beneath the surface of this lovely verse lies a searching soul, wrestling with and yearning for God. Hopkins writes from a Christian background, and yet his themes speak to people of all faiths who seek a deeper understanding of the presence of God in all of life.

This beautiful sampling of Hopkins's poetry offers a glimpse into his unique spiritual vision that continues to inspire readers throughout the world. The poems unite his two devotions, presenting mystical images of Christ in the natural world, which serve as a window through which you might also begin to see the Divine Presence in the world around you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594730108
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	04/01/2004
Series:	Mystic Poets Series
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	1.97(w) x 2.85(h) x 0.53(d)

About the Author

Rev. Thomas Ryan, CSP, is a Catholic priest and member of the Paulist Fathers. He coordinates ecumenical and interreligious relations for the Paulist community in the United States and Canada. The author of twelve books, his works include The Sacred Art of Fasting: Preparing to Practice (SkyLight Paths); Interreligious Prayer: A Christian Guide; Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom and the DVD Yoga Prayer. He lives in Washington, DC.

Rev. Thomas Ryan, CSP, is available to speak on the following topics:

• Fasting: A Fresh Look
• Challenge and Inspiration from Other Religions
• The Ecumenical Gift Exchange: What Do the Churches Have to Offer One Another for Their Mutual Enrichment?
• Soul Fire: Accessing Your Creativity
• Remember to Live: Embracing the Second Half of Life

Click here to contact the author.

Born in England in 1844, Gerard Manley Hopkins began writing poetry at an early age. In his early twenties, Hopkins converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism and in 1868 joined the Society of Jesuits. Hopkins continued to write poems thereafter, while serving as a priest and university teacher, but he burned most of his early poems out of a deep sense of conflict between his art and his faith, and he published very little in his lifetime."God's Grandeur" appeared in the first collection of his poems, edited by his friend Robert Bridges and published in 1918, long after the poet's death in 1889.

Table of Contents

Preface by Rev. Thomas Ryan, CSP

Who Is Gerard Manley Hopkins?
A Short Introduction to Hopkins's Mysticism
Excerpts from His Sermons
A Short Introduction to the Poems
Excerpts from Hopkins’s Writings about Poetry
From Robert Bridges’s Preface to the 1918 Edition
The Poems

Notes
Index of Poems (by title)
Index of First Lines
Other Books in The Mystic Poets Series