Hopkins' Isolation
What to do?
In the poem "No worst," Hopkins creates a very dark and negative atmosphere as the poem opens with "no worst, there is none" and ends with "life death does end and each day dies with sleep"[1]. The reader can clearly see the shift in the author's mentality as his spiritual essence has departed, leaving him as an empty vessel of God's supposed will and testament. Hopkins questions Mother Mary and God, wondering, "where is [God's] comforting" and "where is [Mary's relief"[2]? The poem's questions imply Hopkins has been abandoned by God. As stated by Leila Meglio, Hopkins "terrible poems emerged from [a] period of despair," and Hopkins utilized his "isolated situation in life to echo his internal feelings of isolation from God"[3].
In God, We do not trust.
Thus, unlike Hopkins' earlier poems, his darker "terrible" poems creates a clear dichotomy between Hopkins the poet and Hopkins the man. As described in our class anthology, the "ultimate result of God's withdrawal from the soul and consequent darkness" [4]is the temptation to despair. Hopkins' poetry throughout his isolation provides a reader with a glimpse into the internal struggle he felt in regards to his religious devotion and identity.
SNARK!
Like Hopkins, Carroll also takes a darker route with The Hunting of the Snark. Of course, Carroll's work is nowhere near as dark and gloomy as Hopkins "terrible poems," but death is a clear theme within the Snark. Carroll's work tends to be light-hearted and whimsical, yet this poem is disturbing, especially during the last Fit. After countless misadventures, the hunters find the Baker had "softly and suddenly vanished away- For the Snark was a Boojum, you see"[5]. A character dies, one supposedly based on Carroll himself. The poem takes a darker route than the majority of Carroll's work, following similar paths as Hopkins' dark poetry follows.
What do you fear?
As Chris had mentioned, Carroll did not know what a Snark was, though Carroll supposed it was a fusion of a snail and shark with snake features as well. Given the unknowing nature of the snark, it is increasingly scarier for the audience, especially since man fears the unknown. In essence, the ambiguity of the Snark gives it a strong undertone of mystery and resulting fear from readers. Each individual perceives fear differently, and thus, each reader will picture a different creature, specific to his or her own fears.
Works Cited
1. Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Major Works Including all the Poems and Selected Prose (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 167.
2. Hopkins, The Major Works, 167.
3. Meglio, Leila. The Victorian Web, "Stranger Among Strangers: Hopkins' Isolation from Society and God." Last modified April 19, 2011. Accessed May 12, 2012. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hopkins/meglio.html.
4. Jerome Bump, "Gerard Manley Hopkins," Carroll and Hopkins, (Austin: 2012), 440.
5. Lewis Carroll, The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2000), 477.
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