Dr.Aparna Ajith
Assistant Professor in English, Sree Narayana College for Women,
Kollam, Kerala, India
Abstract
Literature is the vital manifestation of what one has seen, felt, and experienced in life. It is inextricably intertwined with the Environment and its growing concerns. It plays a crucial role in shaping environmental consciousness by portraying the beauty, complexity, and fragility of nature, as well as the consequences of its degradation. Green Studies, Nature Writing, Environmental Studies, Ecocriticism etc. are the different fields that focus on the relationship between Literature and the Environment with distinctive approaches, goals, and scope. The depiction of the Environment through literary outputs tries to develop a deeper connection between readers and the natural world. The paper attempts to illuminate the deforestation and despair depicted in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Binsey Poplars”. The renowned poem written in 1879, represents Hopkins’ environmental sensitivity and his lament for the destruction of nature. The poem mourns the felling of a row of poplar trees along the Thames near Binsey, capturing the profound sense of loss that accompanies such environmental changes. Through vivid imagery and rhythmic complexity, Hopkins conveys both the beauty of the natural world and the irreparable impact of human actions upon it. Through its masterful use of vivid imagery, innovative rhythm, and emotional intensity, “Binsey Poplars” not only mourns the loss of specific trees but also serves as a timeless meditation on humanity’s often-destructive relationship with the natural world.
KEYWORDS: Ecological Concern, Nature, Deforestation, Despair, Humanity
Literature is the vital manifestation of what one has seen, felt, and experienced in life. It is inextricably intertwined with the Environment and its growing concerns. It plays a crucial role in shaping environmental consciousness by portraying the beauty, complexity, and fragility of nature, as well as the consequences of its degradation. Green Studies, Nature Writing, Environmental Studies, Ecocriticism etc. are the different fields that focus on the relationship between Literature and the Environment with distinctive approaches, goals, and scope. The depiction of the Environment through literary outputs tries to develop a deeper connection between readers and the natural world.
By recording and narrating the devastation of the landscape, the loss of biodiversity, and the displacement of communities, such literature can highlight the innate value of nature beyond its utility to humans. This lines up with the growing field of Environmental Humanities, which seeks to reframe environmental problems as cultural and ethical issues. There are many things one should understand and learn from one’s environment. It is the right of all beings to protect and preserve their natural surroundings. The paper attempts to illuminate the deforestation and despair depicted in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Binsey Poplars”. The renowned poem written in 1879, represents Hopkins’ environmental sensitivity and his lament for the destruction of nature. The poem mourns the felling of a row of poplar trees along the Thames near Binsey, capturing the profound sense of loss that accompanies such environmental changes. Through vivid imagery and rhythmic complexity, Hopkins conveys both the beauty of the natural world and the irreparable impact of human actions upon it. Through its masterful use of vivid imagery, innovative rhythm, and emotional intensity, “Binsey Poplars” not only mourns the loss of specific trees but also serves as a timeless meditation on humanity’s often-destructive relationship with the natural world.
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) stands as one of the most innovative and influential poets of the Victorian era, whose work anticipated many of the themes and techniques of modernist poetry. Born in Stratford, Essex, Hopkins was a devout Jesuit priest, and his religious beliefs deeply influenced his poetic vision. He attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he developed a passion for literature and converted to Catholicism. His career as a priest often took precedence over his writing, and much of his poetry was not published until after his death. Hopkins’ poetic personality is characterized by an intense sensitivity to the natural world and a profound spiritual awareness. His work often explores the intersection of nature and divinity, reflecting his belief in the presence of God in all things. This is evident in his innovative use of “inscape” and “instress.” “Inscape” refers to the unique inner nature or essence of a thing, while “instress” is the force that holds the inscape together and communicates its uniqueness to the observer. Through these concepts, Hopkins sought to capture the individuality of the natural world and the divine force that animates it.
One of his most distinctive contributions to poetry is his development of sprung rhythm, a metrical system that mimics the natural patterns of speech an+99d the rhythms of the natural world. This technique allows Hopkins to convey a sense of organic vitality and dynamic movement in his descriptions of nature, as seen in poems like “The Windhover” and “Pied Beauty.” His publications include A Philosopher’s Stone and Other Poems (1843), Pietas Metrica (1849), and Spicelegium Poeticum, A Gathering of Verses by Manley Hopkins (1892). He also reviewed poetry for the London Times and wrote one novel and an essay on Longfellow, which were never published. The poem “Binsey Poplars” conveys Gerard Manley Hopkins’ sorrow over the felling of the poplar trees that once lined his walks along the River Thames in the English village of Binsey.
“Binsey Poplars”, written in 1879, exemplifies Hopkins’ environmental sensitivity and his lament for the destruction of nature. The poem mourns the felling of a row of poplar trees along the Thames near Binsey, capturing the profound sense of loss that accompanies such environmental changes. Through vivid imagery and rhythmic complexity, Hopkins conveys both the beauty of the natural world and the irreversible impact of human actions upon it. The opening lines, “My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled, / Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,” capture the trees’ delicate beauty and their role in the ecosystem. According to Brian J Day “The opening lines of “Binsey Poplars” demonstrate the complex nature of the tree’s thingness in their mix of anthropocentric projection, scientific observation, and ecological sensibility” (188). The imagery of “airy cages” suggests both the fragility and the protective nature of the trees, highlighting their importance in filtering sunlight and providing habitat.
The repeated phrase “All felled, felled, are all felled” uses repetition to highlight the finality and totality of the destruction. This demanding repetition reflects the poet’s grief and disbelief, making the loss feel immediate and overwhelming to the reader. Hopkins’ description of the scene as “a sweet special rural scene” further emphasizes the uniqueness and irreplaceability of the natural beauty that has been destroyed. According to Joseph Post “In “Binsey Poplars,” Hopkins uses repetition to convey this sense of growing disorder. The third line mourns the loss of the trees that are “all felled” (14).
Hopkins’ work often unravels the celebration of nature’s beauty and a darker, more meditative exploration of personal and spiritual anguish. The poem highlights the irreversible impact of human actions on the environment and the spiritual cost of such destruction. Dominic Joseph and Dr.K. Antonysamy in their paper argue that “Hopkins deftly communicates his ecological concerns wrapped in theological and moral terms. The heart of the matter is the belief that everything in the nature is sacred or in another sense, possesses an intrinsic value and ultimately what is done to it is in effect is done to oneself. Through Binsey Poplars he puts across the inevitability of a mutual coexistence (60).
Hopkins’ innovative use of “sprung rhythm” and his mastery of sound devices contribute to the emotional impact of “Binsey Poplars.” The poem’s structure, with its irregular meter and intricate rhymes, mirrors the complexity and beauty of the natural world. This technique is also evident in “The Windhover,” where Hopkins uses sprung rhythm to capture the dynamic energy of a kestrel in flight: The kinetic energy and precise observation in “The Windhover” parallel the detailed depiction of the poplars in “Binsey Poplars,” demonstrating Hopkins’ consistent ability to convey the vitality of the natural world through his innovative poetic form. Joseph Post has been right in assessing Hopkin’s mastery of language thus:
Hopkins, in his mastery of poetic language and form, creates a sense of increasing disorder by describing the “sweet especial scene” and repeating the words “rural scene.” As in earlier moments of the poem, the repetition suggests the increasing entropy described in thermodynamics, but Hopkins does not leave the poem with that sense of imminent destruction. Instead, he organizes the disorder in the act of re-creating his feelings for the trees prior to their felling. Hopkins, as voice for nature, has conveyed his personal understanding of what he perceives their suffering to be; he has expressed the destruction that results from even the best intentions of humanity and has conveyed a sense of the effects of ever-increasing entropy. And then, Hopkins shows the power of the poet to choose to create meaning out of chaos, to find order amidst disorder, to somehow reverse the effects of entropy. Hopkins, in turn, has become the proxy for nature, voicing “her” pains and discovering how humans can interact with nature through sympathetic projection. (14-15)
Literature enables one to learn about the growing significance of the surrounding and the need to safeguard. The renowned poet from Kerala, O.N.V. Kurup in his “A Requiem to Mother Earth” (Bhoomikku Oru Charamageetham) addresses the issues of ecological preservation and the unsympathetic ways in which landscape is commodified and divided up by human beings for egocentric motives. It is the need of the hour to nurture and foster one’s environment. “Hopkins’ poetry celebrates the human potential to see nature even as it recognizes the reality of our inability to see it, and laments the consequences—spiritual, ecological, and environmental—of that failure” (Day,190). Hopkins’ “Binsey Poplars” remains in the mind of readers echoing the grandeur of earth and the pressing need to protect the surroundings of the humans for sustainable growth as well as development. Hence , posterity will not willingly let the grandeur of “Binsey Poplars’ die.
Works Cited
- “Binsey Poplars.” The Poetry Foundation, 22 June 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44390/binsey-poplars.
- Day, Brian J. “Hopkins’ Spiritual Ecology in „Binsey Poplars.‟” Victorian Poetry, vol. 42, no. 2, 2004, pp. 181–194. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40002780
- Joseph, Dominic, and K. S. Antonysamy. “AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF G. M. HOPKINS’ ‘BINSEY POPLARS.’” NEW ACADEMIA: An International Journal of English Language, Literature and Literary Theory, by Bharathiyar University and Loyola College, vol. VIII, no. I, Jan. 2019, pp. 54–56. interactionsforum.com/images/pdfs/newacademia/v8/i1/Dominic-.pdf.
- Post, Joseph, “A Voice for Nature”, Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism: Vol.7: Iss.1, no. 4, 2014, http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/criterion/vol7/iss1/4.
BIO-NOTE
Dr. Aparna Ajith serves as an Assistant Professor in the PG Department of English at Sree Narayana College for Women, Kollam affiliated to the University of Kerala. She has authored Musings of Venus, an anthology of poems. She is the recipient of the Panorama Global Youth Literary Award 2020 and the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Research Grant 2020. As a freelance journalist, she contributes articles and translations to the Information and Public Relations Department, Govt. of Kerala. She earned her Ph.D. in English from the Central University of Rajasthan, complementing her academic journey that includes a twin Master’s degree in English Literature and Sociology and a Post Graduate Diploma in Communication and Journalism from Trivandrum Press Club, Kerala. Her scholarly engagement extends to presenting around 75 papers at national and international conferences, delivering lectures as a resource person alongside contributing to esteemed journals and edited anthologies. Her interests span Creative Writing, Translation, Gender, Diaspora, Film, and Culture Studies. Formerly, she served as an Ad Hoc Civilian Teaching Faculty of English at the iconic Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala. Dr. Ajith’s academic and creative pursuits have afforded her opportunities to traverse 19 states and 2 union territories, enriching her understanding of diverse cultures.