THE WRECK OF DEUTSCHLAND – GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

                                             THE WRECK OF DEUTSCHLAND

Part 1 : STANZA  1:  The poet acknowledges God’s mystery over him. God creates and provides nourishment to man. Just as the shore shelters man from the turbulent sea, God protects him from unforeseen dangers. The sea, with its violent waves appears ominous. But it is god who not only agitates but also calms down the sea. In lines 4-8, Hopkins describes how God has affected him personally. God has given him a strong and sturdy body with flesh binding together bones and veins. God also undid what he had done him. He made Hopkins suffer much both before and after he became a priest. Hopkins sees a manifestation of God in all his sufferings. By making him suffer, God seeks to teach him some valuable lessons.

STANZA  2: In this stanza Hopkins describes the terrifying nature of God associating Him with such horrible objects as the lightning and the rod wielded by a tyrant to punish his victim. The poet says that he does not deserve such cruel treatment. For, he has been all along serving God faithfully, and praying night and day. The walls and the altar of the church know what a persistent Bhakta he is. He is trying to rise to great spiritual heights. He is like a mountaineer attempting to climb up to the top of a high mountain. But god is behaving like a perverse enemy. Instead of encouraging the devotee to rise up to Him, God is trying to push him down. Hopkins says that God is trampling upon him and sweeping him away as if he were a bundle of rubbish. The mountaineer who is in danger of falling down a great height anxiously catches hold of some object to save himself. His lower belly (midriff) is pained as he tries to cling to some rock. Similarly, Hopkins feels that God is trying to roll him down to the lowest possible spiritual level. He is in such a state of tension that his midriff is pained. He feels as though he is passing through fire.

STANZA  3: The poet says that in front of him is the wrathful face of God and at his back is hell gaping wide to swallow him. How could he escape from these two equally frightful dangers? He says that like a bird hemmed in by dangers quickly unfolding its wings and flying to a safe place, his heart has flown to the heart of Christ. What Hopkins means is that he has conquered all his doubts and misgivings and joined the Jesuit Order, finding safety and peace within its fold. He expresses the same idea by using the image of the pigeon. The pigeon is soft and loving and so is the poet’s heart. The pigeon which carries messages from place to place has a remarkable homing instinct. However far the pigeon flies, it ultimately comes back to its master. Similarly, after wandering here and there in search of peach, the poet has finally decided to rest with the Jesuit Order. In the last line the poet once again stresses the diametrically opposite aspects of God – God is both flame and grace. The poet tastes not only God’s wrath but also his mercy.

STANZA  4: The poet says that he is both stable and unstable – stable as the hour- glass fixed on a wall and unstable as the sand trickling down from its upper cup to its lower. Next, he says that he is always revivified by God’s grace as the water in a well is replenished by the rills flowing down the sides of a mountain.

STANZA  5: The poet grasps God’s grace not only in splendid natural objects such as the stars and their soft light but also in terrible ones such as the thunder. Another natural scene that attracts the poet is the variety of colours streaking the western horizon in the evening. The poet says that the grace of God, bursting suddenly, welcomed by him whenever he encounters it. He feels himself blessed by God on such occasions.

STANZA  6: Hopkins repeats that God stands revealed not only through stars but also through storms. The revelation of God serves to suppress guilt and purify impure hearts. Even believers are sometimes puzzled by God’s strange workings so much so that their faith is weakened. Non- believers mythicise  God and miss the true significance of His preachings.

STANZA  7: God first revealed Himself as Jesus Christ who was born and went about preaching in Galilee. Christ’s birth culminated in His suffering and death on the Cross. Whoever sacrifices his life for others as Christ did will be blessed. He will receive the grace of God. The five Franciscan nuns who got drowned lived unselfish lives. Hopkins is sure that God will shower His grace on them. The poet, being no less unselfish, is hopeful of being enfolded by God.

STANZA  8: The poet says that we express our approval or disapproval of God only last of all. Understanding of God is likened to a man squeezing a sole in his mouth till it bursts and fills the mouth with juice to the brim. We all go to God whether out of understanding his greatness or feeling the need for Him or realizing what He expects us to do.

STANZA  9: God has three forms, namely, Father, Son (Christ) and the Holy Ghost. The poet wants that God should be worshipped by all. He recommends that God treat the sinner harshly in order to chasten him. The poet uses a number of antithetical images to bring out God’s contradictory qualities. God is breeze as well as storm, love as well as lightning, summer as well as winter, fondler as well as wringer of hearts. In the last line, God exhibits His mercy by sitting like a giant, on the sinner and crushing him.

STANZA  10: The image of the forge is used in these lines. Like a blacksmith who heats a piece of metal and then, placing it on a block of steel called anvil, beats it and moulds it into the desired shape, God beats the human will and bends it to suit His expectations. The anvil stands for life in the world. The ‘ding’ is the trails in the world that shape a man. God makes Himself felt as gently as the spring season spreads its sweet influence on plants and trees. God sometimes converts a sinner suddenly as He did Saul who later became St. Paul. Sometimes He exerts His influence slowly as in the case of St. Augustine. Whatever be the mode adopted by God, He should win and be worshipped by all.

 PART II  -STANZA  11: Death is personified as a town-crier proclaiming how he uses tools like train and fire accidents, wars, hanging, poisoning, storms, etc., to cause large-scale death. Next, Hopkins uses a botanical image. We forget that death is approaching us every moment just as flower plants, unaware of the approaching reaper, dance gaily in the wind.

STANZA  12: The Deutschland, starting from the German poet of Breman, was sailing towards New York on Saturday, 4^th December, 1875. Including emigrants and sailors, there were two hundred people in the ship. They were all like tender chickens protected by the mother hen under its wings. They did not guess that the ship was going to dash against a sandbank in a storm, causing the death of at least one-fourth of them. The poet cannot understand why God, supposed to be merciful, did not protect these innocent travelers.

STANZA  13: Leaving behind the safe port, the ship rushed into the snow-covered sand bank on a Sunday. Hopkins pictures the wind as unkind and the east northwestern direction from which it blew as accursed. The snow was scattered in the form of wires and turned this side and that side by whirlwind. The sea deprived the women of their husbands, parents of their children and children of their parents.

STANZA  14: In the darkness of the night the ship, swayed by a violent storm collided not against a reef or a cock but against the sand bank Kentish Knock, a large shoal at the mouth of the Thames. The ship got stuck up in the sand. The situation was aggravated by the towering waves which beat down the ship with a destructive force. The propeller, the steering wheel and the compass of the ship were irreparably damaged.

STANZA  15: Hope is personified in this stanza as a grey-haired old man. Neither the passengers nor the crew had hopes of being rescued. Twelve hours passed. No rescue ship could reach the spot because of the roughness of the sea. The waiting period appeared endless to the passengers. Some of them clung to the ropes in an attempt to save themselves. They were severely buffeted by the wind and the waves.

STANZA  16: The details given in this stanza were taken by Hopkins from newspaper reports. One of the sailors who was safe in the rigging went down to save a woman drowning on deck. He was remarkably strong and sturdy. But the waves blew him against the bulwarks and killed him. His dead body was seen dangling to and fro over by the foamy waters of the sea. He had superhuman courage but could not fight against the waves.

STANZA  17: The passengers felt that God was indifferent (‘cold’) to their suffering. They could not struggle against God’s cold. They could not endure their suffering for long. Many of them fell upon the deck and were either crushed to death or drowned in the sea or thrown overboard. The sea roared in the dark. The poet personifies night and says that Night was heart-broken to eye-witness the suffering of the passengers. Women wailed and children cried ceaselessly. Suddenly a lion-hearted nun spoke loudly, drowning the other noises. She was like a prophetess.

STANZA  18: The poet is trying to clarify his reaction to the shipwreck. He puts a series of questions to his heart which he considers the source of life (‘mother of being’). Like all people, he is also deeply touched. He is moved to tears. Yet, he is aware that the issue can be viewed from another angle. His tears could be tears of joy also. He is happy because the shipwreck has served to bring out the heroism and undaunted courages of the chief nun who addressed the weeping women and made them reconcile themselves to their tragic lot.

STANZA  19: The superior or the chief nun addressed her master, namely, Christ who was also the poet’s master. Her voice rose above the tumult of the sea. The men who were clinging to the ropes and the masts for their safety heard the loud address of the nun who thought only of Christ.

STANZA  20: The poet is puzzled by the co-existence of good and evil. The chief nun was one among the five coifed Franciscan nuns. They were exiles from Germany. It is a mystery to the poet that Germany produced not only the Catholic saint Gertrude but also the ‘beast’ Martin Luther who revolted against the Roman catholic Church and founded Protestantism. It is similar to the same mother giving birth to the God-fearing Abel and his impious brother Cain who went to the extent of murdering his own brother.

STANZA  21: The nuns were servants of God. The poet thinks it a pity that such Zealous followers of God were expelled from Germany which was the land of their birth. Hopkins regards God not only as a benevolent master but also as a ruthless hunter like Orion. God drove the nuns out of their birthplace. Now, He was unconcernedly watching the suffering of the nuns. Thus poet says that the nuns accepted their suffering of the nuns. The poet says that the nuns accepted their suffering as part of their service. They viewed the flakes of snow which were beating them as scroll-leaved showers of lily flowers. Martyrdom brought them only joy.

STANZA  22: The poet finds a mystic significance in the number five. Five was the number of the Franciscan nuns who were drowned in the sea. Five was also the number of the wounds on the body of the crucified Christ. Through this similarly the poet raises the nuns to the level of Christ who also suffered like the nuns under an autocratic ruler. The poet says that God inflicts crimson wounds on his select followers and removes them prematurely from the world. Hopkins believes firmly that the five Franciscan nuns who had died early were the chosen whom God had drawn away from the world to Himself.

STANZA  23: Hopkins alludes to St. Francis to whose order the nuns belonged. The five scarlet marks that appeared on the body of the crucified. Christ appeared on the body of St. Francis also. These wounds are called ‘stigma’ or ‘stigmata’. Bearing the marks of christ’s death resurrection and gain entry into heaven. Francis received this assurance from an angel. Now, the five Franciscan nuns have perished in the stormy sea. The sea has become their grave. The nuns have experienced both the mercy (‘his fall-gold mercies’) and the wrath (‘his all-fire glances’) of god.

STANZA  24: The poet contrasts his comfortable life with the suffering of the nuns. When the Deutschland was wrecked and nuns were drowned, the poet was leading a comfortable life at St. Beuno’s college which stood on a hill in Wales. The chief nun called ‘Christ, Christ, come quickly’. She held the crucifix close to her breast. She considered Christ ‘Best’ who was at the same time ‘wildworst’.

STANZA  25: The poet thinks deeply about the Chief nun’s appeal to Christ. He says that the nun welcomed death, hoping thereby to get closer to Christ, regarding Him as her lover.

STANZA  26: As if in answer to the prayers of the nuns, the sky which had till that then been covered by a thick fog become clear. The downy-breasted fog, hugged close by the earth, lifted. Patches of blue appeared in the sky. The stars and the Milky Way were seen twinkling in the sky. The chances of recovery became possible. These natural scenes had a heavenly quality. Instead of seeing heaven in nature, the reader may have a different view of nature. The glories of heaven have never been seen by human eyes or heard by human ears.

STANZA  27: The nun appealed to Christ not out of the desire to enjoy the pleasures of heaven or to escape from the dangerous situation she was in. it was her desire for relief from the tiresome daily routine and the sorrows that dampen and deaden the mind that made her appeal to God. She was interested only in the quiet contemplation of Christ’s suffering and in solitary prayer to him. The situation that she was in was not conducive to prayer. Because of the hurly-burly and turmoil around her she could not concentrate on prayer and so she wanted to be away from the place.

STANZA  28: The Chief nun might have had a glimpse of Christ. The poet feels his verbal resources are not adequate to describe the nun’s vision of Christ who is the king and Head of all mankind. The poet says that Christ is the master of the living and the dead. He appeals to Christ to finish his sport with the nuns quickly and thereby prove his mastery over all.

STANZA  29: The poet praises the chief nun who was not afraid of the dangerous situation she was in. Her heart had been guided along the right lines. She correctly assessed the significance of the horrible events of the night. She regarded  them as a manifestation of God. She viewed all events with reference to God who created heaven and earth and gives meaning to all things, past and present . The chief nun had the firmness of soul which Simon Peter had displayed. She was as firm in facing dangers as the Tarpeian rock outside Rome. She was also like the beacon as she guided people confronting spiritual problems.

STANZA  30: The poet says that God might celebrate the day of the Chief nun’s martyrdom. This day coincides with the day of the Feast of the Immaculate conception of Mary.  Mary’s  immaculate conception resulted in the birth of Christ. The nun’s martyrdom may result in the birth of another great man.

STANZA  31: The Chief nun has united with God. She has been suitably rewarded for her patient endurance of her suffering. Unfortunately, the other passengers on board did not have the time to confess and atone for their sons. The poet says that the merciful God would have taken pity on the other passengers and admitted them also within His fold. The Chief nun’s appeal might have resulted in God forgiving all. Viewed from this angle, the shipwreck was not just a disaster; it was a rich harvest which brought to God the souls of a great many people besides the soul of the Chief nun.

STANZA  32: The poet gives examples of God’s unlimited powers. God is the creator of all tides. He created the great Deluge which caused immense destruction in the time of Naoh. God sets limits to vast oceans. He controls not only the flow of water but also the ceaseless  restlessness of the human mind. He is the protective bulwark of the world. He is the power behind both life and death. He is aware of all things but remains invisible. He knows what will happen in future but gives freedom to people to act according to their likes and dislikes.

STANZA  33: God’s mercy is unlimited. He sympathizes not only with the dogged, irredeemable sinners but also with those who repent in the eleventh hour. God is savior and protector of all. He sympathizes even when he terrorizes.

STANZA  34: Through the nun’s death, Christ has manifested Himself to the world as a flame burning bright and illuminating the path of a man in distress. God has a double nature. He is both human and divine, creator and destroyer. God descended from heaven and lay curled in Virgin Mary’s womb before the miracle of His birth took place in the world. God is the middle figure in the Trinity, consisting of the Father, the son (Christ) and the Holy Ghost. Christ’s visit to the world in the form of the shipwreck has neither the dazzling terror of the Doomsday nor the darkness of the world when He was born. Christ is kind but assertive. He brings to Himself the souls of those who belong to Him, such as the souls of the shipwrecked nuns. The shipwreck is another visit of Christ to the world.

STANZA  35: The poet winds up by expressing his hope that the Chief nun’s death will lead to the revival of Roman Catholicism in England. The nun died in England and her death is bound to have an impact on the English people. The poet praises Christ as the prince hero and high-priest of the people. He is the fire of charity and the lord of all the noble thoughts and feelings thronging in the hearts of men. Let Christ rise in England as the sun rises and brightens up the eastern horizon.