Summary of the Poem, The Windhover for BA students
Summary of the Poem, The Windhover The Windhover is a sonnet written by Gerard Manley Hopkins in the year 1877. Hopkins dedicated the poem "to Christ our Lord". Hopkins is famous for his usage of sprung rhythm. He expresses his religious thoughts by highlighting the beauty of nature. He was inspired by nature and the manifestation of God in every living thing. In this poem Hopkins describes the beauty of a windhover, a bird of prey. This bird hovers around the mid -air during its hunt. In the first stanza of the poem the poet admires the beauty of the bird. He hails the bird as the Prince of daylight. The bird flies in the mid – air with its majestic wings. During flight it keeps full control over the air like a man controlling his horse. The bird motionlessly glides downwards like a man sliding in a snow. The way the bird dived exposed its buff over the strong wind. In the poet’s imagination, the windhover sits at a great height, looking proud, with authoritati