Selected Sonnets and Other Lyrics by Gerard Manley Hopkins

The confusion arises, however, from the fact that Hopkins has become the antagonist of God – something already implicit in the terrifying picture evoked by the octet, and also by the apparent confusion in ‘I kissed the rod,/Hand rather.’ Hopkins wonders if he is ‘cheering’ God Who has thrown him down into submission, or whether he is cheering himself on for fighting God – which would imply he is still in rebellion against Him. Whichever is the case, we should note that this ‘wrestling’ match with God has a very famous scriptural precedent in the story of Jacob’s wrestling match with the Lord, in which his hip was dislocated and his name was changed to Israel (Genesis 32). Such a story reminds us that Hopkins was certainly aware as he wrote these desolate poems that he was tapping into an ancient Biblical tradition, particularly found in the Psalms and the Book of Job, of humanity struggling with the decrees and judgements of God.

‘Patience, hard thing! the hard thing but to pray’

GLOSSARY
‘tosses’ – as in ‘storm-tossed’ or ‘fortune-tossed.’

‘dearer’ – ‘more grievously’ (an archaism), but also, in a way, ‘with more spiritual value.’

‘combs’ – honeycombs.

THOUGHTS
The first lines are notable for their ellipses, as well as for the soothing repetition of ‘Patience.’ Expanding and explicating the phrase beginning ‘the hard thing....’ would give ‘the hard thing [that is Patience, is hard] but [=even] to pray [for], but [=even] [to] bid for.’ It is hard to pray for Patience, because the only way to acquire it is to suffer, and therefore to pray for this virtue is to pray for suffering, for ‘war’ and ‘wounds.’ To be patient, one must learn ‘to do without,’ to accept the reversals of fortune (‘take tosses’), and also acquire the great Jesuit virtue of obedience.