by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889)
The world is charged with the grandeur of God Matches base text
Language: English
The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs -- Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Composition:
- Set to music by Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, Sir (1891 - 1975), "The world is charged with the grandeur of God", op. 116 no. 1, F. 36 no. 1, published 1970 [ SATB chorus, 2 flutes, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones ], from The World is Charged with the Grandeur of God, no. 1
Text Authorship:
- by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889), "God's Grandeur", appears in Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse, first published 1895
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 125