The Sea and the Skylark by Gerard Manley Hopkins

The Sea and the Skylark by Gerard Manley Hopkins

On ear and ear two noises too old to end

Trench—right, the tide that ramps against the shore;

With a flood or a fall, low lull-off or all roar,

Frequenting there while moon shall wear and wend.

Left hand, off land, I hear the lark ascend,

His rash-fresh re-winded new-skeinèd score

In crisps of curl off wild winch whirl, and pour

And pelt music, till none’s to spill nor spend.

How these two shame this shallow and frail town!

How ring right out our sordid turbid time,

Being pure!   We, life’s pride and cared-for crown,

Have lost that cheer and charm of earth’s past prime:

Our make and making break, are breaking, down

To man’s last dust, drain fast towards man’s first slime.

INTRODUCTION – 

The Sea and the Skylark is a famous poem by the Victorian poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins. It was written in 1877 along with several other ode-like sonnets. The poem was originally published under the title - Walking by the Sea but it was changed later. It is a regular Petrarchan sonnet with a marked division between the octave and the sestet where the octave is further divided into two quatrains and the sestet in two tercets. The poem follows the rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA CDCCDC. The poem deals with the idea of the purity of God's creations and the greed of man.

POET –

Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was a Victorian poet. He is best known for his use of sprung rhythms and the invention of the unique curtal sonnet. His works usually contained themes of nature and religion. His best works include God’s Grandeur, Pied Beauty, and The Windhover.

SUMMARY – 

Two sounds are invaded in the poet's thought as he walks along the beach: on his right is the ebb and flow of the waves on the shore i.e. the sound produced by them, and on his left is the unfurling song of the skylark. The first quatrain deals with this sound of the sea. Hopkins is walking along the shore near the North Wales town of Rhyl. Walking westwards, he would have the sea on his right hand. He remarks particularly on the contrasting sounds of the high and the low tide. These tides are also affected by the moon and the sounds produced by them are one of the most ancient sounds ever to be heard on earth. The sea sometimes produces a sound similar to a roar whereas sometimes it is sweet and soft as a lullaby.

The second quatrain centers on the skylark, a songbird with a musical voice. On the poet's left hand lie the sand dunes, over which the skylark is soaring. The imagery seeks to convert sound into sight, as we are asked to see the bird's song as a musical score, pouring out of its throat, then falling like a fisherman's line reeling out. It is not a straight line as there are kinks in it where the line has been pressed into the reel. Each kink represents a bar-line. And the line is being rewound on to another reel, which the bird will take when he swoops downwards, so he can begin again. 

In the sestet, the last six lines of the sonnet, Hopkins reflects on how it is a shame that we have lost the ability to pay attention to and appreciate these sounds of creation—the sea and the skylark. These two voices are the purest and most ancient sounds but humans, in their greed and selfishness, have lost their ability to hear them. The present time is corrupt and filthy but these two sounds still retain their purity. Humans, though consider themselves as the crowned one or the rulers, are not working towards saving this earth. Instead, they are destroying it, and that too in such a way that would lead to their downfall.

THEMES –

• Christianity - The poem deals with the themes of Christian belief. The sea and the skylark are symbols of God's creation while the town can be considered as a symbol of man's fall. Man in his eagerness and self-indulgence has lost God's love.
• Nature - The two ancient sounds - the sea and the skylark symbolize nature. They are a symbol of purity in this gloomy world. Hence, they have been able to survive so long and it is quite clear that they will never cease being.

END – 

The poem is a masterpiece by Hopkins bringing the attention of the reader to various aspects like nature, Christian beliefs, and the greediness of man. The sea and the skylark are symbols of purity that will remain forever while man will surely meet his end after the follies he has committed.