This is a tongue twister of a poem, with beautifully difficult lines like "Why do men then now not reck his rod?" (4). This is just the sort of language that begs for close (and slow) reading… lest you want to embarrass yourself at your next poetry-spoutin' dinner party.
Like many sonnets, "God's Grandeur" takes a dramatic turn as we near the end of it. What are the two contradictory ideas that Hopkins holds together in this piece?
Oh, and by the by, Hopkins called his distinctive poetic style "sprung rhythm." How does his language speed you up or slow you down as you read? Do you pay more attention to his poem's sounds than you might while reading other poems? Why? What's the balance between sound and meaning that Hopkins strikes in this poem?
So many questions, so little time. Can you imagine if the New Critics focused on whole novels rather than itty-bitty poems? They might die before they ever published their first books.