by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889)
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies...
Language: English
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves -- goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came. Í say móre: the just man justices; Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces; Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is -- Chríst -- for Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father through the features of men's faces.
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Authorship:
- by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889), no title, appears in Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, first published 1918 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Trevor Hold (1939 - 2004), "As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme", 1965-7 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Four Sonnets of Gerard Manley Hopkins [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 120