released 4/11/2025

Gerard Manley Hopkins is one of the most frequently anthologized poets in the English language because of his rhythmic originality and anomalous place among the Victorian poets. Yet few realize that were it not for the posthumous advocacy of Hopkins’s lifelong friend, Robert Bridges, the poetry of Hopkins may have completely disappeared. In this Conversation, former California poet-laureate, Dana Gioia, discusses the biographical circumstances that led to Hopkins’s conversion to Roman Catholicism and subsequent decision to stop writing poetry and why people should not confuse the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins with that of religious mystical poets. Gioia argues that Hopkins’s explosive metrical innovations and intensity of vision — while not understood or accepted in his own time — make him one of the most popular English poets today. His “sprung rhythms” could even be seen as a precursor to the musical innovations of jazz and hip-hop. Gioia explains the cultural and ecclesial context of Hopkins’s time that contributed to his sense of alienation, but reveals the depths of the poet-priest’s faith and dedication to serving Christ in spite of all he lost.

55 minutes

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