The Windhover

A detailed Summary of The Windhover


In Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem "The Windhover" there is a sort of representational allusion to Christ and Jesus. In other words the speaker praises the Lord by praising what he takes as a symbol for Christ, the windhover himself. Through out the poem the speaker symbolizes Christ's glory by the way the falcon reacts to the air how it maneuvers and even charcteristic traits of the falcon species. One could only appreciate the glory of the Lord more after interpreting the poem.

The poem is subtitled "To Christ our Lord" because the falcon reminds him of Christ. The speaker continuously hails one of God's most stunning creatures, the falcon. He is flabbergasted at the magnificence of the windhover's flight. He wonders at its colorful feathers and the sheer speed of its flight. His tone suggests that he is in awe...he is observing somet


hing equivalent second coming of Jesus or angels walking among regular men. He throws out a barrage visual imagery to try to describe the windhover and still does not seem to come close to its real magnificence. He wonders how such a creature could exist but is eventually just filled with glee in knowing the fact that it does exist. In the first stanza the speaker states that he spotted the morning's minion as if to suggest that the falcon was some how subservient to the morning. He suggests that there is some sort of royal heiarchy by using words that recall images of sovereignty. Once the reader scratches the surface of the first stanza he can begin to understand the remainder of the poem.

Christ could be seen in nature in the windhover's existence. He is symbolized in all the actions of the falcon and also represented in its charactaeristics. The

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Approximate Word count = 580
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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