Introduction of the Poem:
The poem “Pied Beauty” is a “Curtal” Sonnet with ten and one half lines. It is a devotional poem in the form of lyric. It is a poem of praise to God for the variousness of His creation. In it, the poet pays homage to God for having created dappled things. These dappled things are an evidence of God's glory. It has undoubtedly a moral purpose which urges us to join the poet in praising God for His glory as revealed in various things. It is remarkable for its religious fervour. The poet catalogues the things which change from moment to moment and from season to season. He depicts the individuality, originality, rarity and oddness of the natural things. It shows how alert and alive the poet's sensuous faculties are. The poet is dazzled by different colours of Nature. His physical feelings are stirred by thoughts of earthly occupations. He is aware of the sweet - sour tastes of life.
Summary of the Poem:
The poet pays his true homage to God for creating this beautiful world. God has endowed this world with fascinating beauty. He has created beautiful colourful flowers, trees, birds, insects and animals. God has imparted remarkable beauty not only to the living things but also to the lifeless objects. In every object of Nature, enchanting beauty is present. God has created many things with the beautiful colourful spots. The colourful spots and streaks are found on the skin of small and big creatures. Even these spots and marks are present on the leaves of the trees. The poet describes the sky of couple colour. He compares the sky to a cow on which the brown colour is mixed with streak of another colour. Next he describes a beautiful fish which is often found in the river of fresh water. It looks very beautiful while swimming in the river. It has white - coloured skin spotted with black. Then he describes the chestnuts. When the chestnuts fall from the tree with the sharp gusts of wind or stormy wind, they break open and reveal the fleshy part within. The flesh of the chestnuts looks like burning embers. Next he depicts about a small singing bird which looks very beautiful with its multi - coloured wings. When it spreads its wings, it looks very charming. The poet observes that in all the natural objects God's glory is found.
Next the poet describes about the colourful and fascinating things created by man. Man made things may be attractive but they cannot surpass the divine things. God's beautiful creation of Nature is beyond description. There are many vast landscapes but man has divided them into small plots or fields. He uses a small piece of land for rearing the domestic animals such as cows, buffaloes, sheep, etc. The other piece of land is left uncultivated. It is used as meadow. The domestic animals which feed on grass and vegetation graze in this meadow and one part of land is ploughed well for sowing the seeds and getting the crops. In this way, it is man's patch work. Then Hopkins tells about man made articles which also look very beautiful and attractive but these things have no soothing beauty. They are counted as material objects for his own pleasure and comfort. But the pleasing effect of these things is momentary. For manufacturing different kinds of things, man has established small and big factories which are adorned with modern machines and equipments. These machines are also man's brain work. The equipments and apparatus are maintained in well manner. Next the poet turns from the subject of the colour - contrast. He sums up the general qualities of the natural things created by God. Now he appreciates the opposite qualities of the things. These opposite qualities are running in every object of Nature. Every object of Nature has its individuality, originality and rarity. Everything in Nature is strange. The poet likes the fickleness of the things. Many things in nature are irregular. They are ever changing in their forms and characteristics. They are unpredictable like the English weather. The colours of the spots are constantly changing. Some things are swift, others slow. Some are sweet, others sour. Some are bright and shining, others are dim or lusterless. But it is difficult to know why such contrasts exist. The poet accepts that all this is the glory of God. All the things dwelling in the lap of Nature have their origin in God. Everything in Nature bears divinity. In fact God's beauty is eternal. God's beauty is not subject to change.
Critical Appreciation of the Poem:
Introduction:
The poem “Pied Beauty” is one of poet's most successful inventions. It is primarily a poem of praise for the beauty derived from contrast, and an assertion that God is directly responsible for its creation. It builds up through a description of a variety of beautiful things which either are ‘pied’ or contain opposites of various kinds — colour, taste, speed, brightness— to an assertion of the Creator of them, whose ability to comprehend the paradoxes within his unity aptly demands praise, which ends the poem with a formal perfection by returning to its beginning. It is a catalogue poem. The poet's method in the poem is to catalogue things which change from moment to moment, from season to season.
Thought - Content:
The poet pays his homage to God for having created the dappled things. He takes pleasure in the pied - beauty of Nature— its dappled and variegated appearance. He mentions the sky of couple colour, the trout swimming around with their white - coloured skin spotted with black and the chestnuts falling on the ground and revealing the reddish brown flesh within. He describes finches with their multi - coloured wings. Next he describes the dappled things created by man. Man divides land into small plots, some being used as folds on enclosures for sheep, others lying fallow for a time as pasture, and yet others being ploughed to raise crops. Then there are different kinds of industry, with their neat and well maintained equipment and apparatus. Next he admires the co - existence of contrary things. He praises their uniqueness, individuality, originality and oddness which make them precious and differentiate them. He likes the fickleness of the things. He says that some things swift, others slow; some are sweet, others sour; some are exceptionally bright , others lusterless. The poet strongly holds the opinion that God's beauty is not subject to change. God's beauty is eternal as compared with the transient beauty of Nature.
Moral Purpose:
Poet's adoration of Nature and his reverence for God are here closely interwoven. It has undoubtedly a moral purpose, urging us to join the poet in praising of God for God's glory as revealed in various things. The poet's sincerity of feeling cannot be questioned. It is remarkable for its religious fervour. Religion and poetry unite here to give us a song in praise of the Creator. The poet praises God for brindled cows and the blacksmith's anvils as well as for the so - called poetic objects around him. He glorifies God by saying that God is the source or origin of all the things of Nature and all things issue forth from God. God's beauty is not subject to change.
Form and Metre:
The poem is a curtal sonnet - a sonnet curtailed in length. Instead of having the traditional fourteen lines, it consists of ten and a half lines. It has an octave and a sestet. The octave consists of the first six lines while the last four and a half lines from the sestet of the poem. The metre of this poem is sprung paeonic. A paeonic foot has one stressed and three unstressed syllables.
Imagery and Diction:
The imagery and diction in the poem seem almost inseparable. A number of ‘dappled things’ are mentioned in the octave in phrases characterised by a repetition of consonantal sounds: “Fresh - firecoal chestnut - falls”: “fold, fallow and plough”. In the sestet the attributes of these things are indicated with single words: ‘fickle’, ‘freckled’, ‘swift’, ‘slow’ etc. and the conclusion is naturally drawn at the end. There is nothing contrived in the close of this curtal sonnet:
“He fathers - forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise.”
.webp)
