Gerard Manley Hopkins

Gerard Manley Hopkins (July 28, 1844 - June 8, 1889) was a British Victorian poet and Jesuit priest, whose verse has been widely admired for the vividness of its expression.

Biographical Information

Hopkins was born in Stratford, Essex. He was the son of an insurance agent, and was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he became a follower of Edward Pusey and a member of the Oxford Movement. It was also at Oxford that he forged the friendship with Robert Bridges which would be of importance in his development as a poet. In 1866, following the example of Newman, he converted to Roman Catholicism, and in 1868 he decided to enter the priesthood. In 1882 he became a teacher at Mount St. Mary's College, Sheffield, and Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, from where he progressed to professor of Greek at University College Dublin, though remaining a priest.

Related Topics:
Balliol College, Oxford - Edward Pusey - Oxford Movement - Robert Bridges - 1866 - Newman - Roman Catholic - 1868 - 1882 - Stonyhurst College - University College Dublin

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During his lifetime, Hopkins published few of his poems. It was only through the efforts of his friend, Bridges, that his collected verse was published in 1918. These included The Wreck of the Deutschland (written in 1876), The Windhover and Pied Beauty. Today he is one of Britain's most admired poets.

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