Compare and contrast ‘God’s Grandeur’ by Hopkins with ‘The World is too much with us’ by William Wordsworth
Hopkin’s poem is indeed a powerful one and he invokes God in many ways especially in the powerful opening statement which is quite ravishingly beautiful to say the least. Dealing with nature and its power over man, Hopkins’ poem also invokes the beauty and serenity of God’s grandeur which at times may seem powerful yet in others may also seem awesome and charged with intense feeling.
The World is too much with us by Wordsworth similarly invokes nature and its intense power as well as bringing the grandeur of God into the picture. Notwithstanding all the power of God, Wordsworth also invokes the simplicity and sheer beauty of man’s relationship with his creator which can appear to be complex at times but which is also something of true importance.
“The world is charged with the grandeur of God, It will flame out, like shining from shook foil” is Hopkin’s opening statement while Wordsworth opens with:
“THE world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers”
Intrinsically both appear to be saying the same thing but in different ways. Hopkins invokes the grandeur of God with his omnipotent majesty while Wordsworth perhaps is slightly more pessimistic and negative as he contemplates the greatness and vastness of the world.
However as both poems progress, both poets touch upon similar themes such as the importance of nature to all proceedings.
Nature as an all powerful force which leaves man guessing about how he can influence the grander scheme of things and how we can move ahead and understand what is his meaning in this vast world.
Hopkins includes lines of tortuous beauty such as; “And though the last lights off the black West
Went. Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs”. Here one can sense an almost nostalgic longing for nature’s bright hues and lines as the sunset brings another day to an inexorable close. Hopkins paints the picture with a sense of awe and passion as the day comes to a close and night and darkness envelops us all.
“I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn”.
Here Wordsworth invokes the Greek gods in an effort to describe the importance of nature and its power over man. He is perhaps slightly more pessimistic than Hopkins although in a sense he is also very much his own man when describing all that is going on during the miasma of life.
