Analysis of Binsey Poplars by G.M Hopkins – SS2 Literature-in-English Lesson Note (Third Term)

“Binsey Poplars” is a poem by the Victorian poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins, written in 1879. In it, the speaker mourns the felling of a row of aspen (poplar) trees in the village of Binsey, England. The poem warns that human destruction of nature, driven by industrialisation, damages the natural world for good and for future generations.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• give a short background of Gerard Manley Hopkins;
• explain the background and subject matter of “Binsey Poplars”;
• explain the poem section by section, from line 1 to line 24;
• identify the figures of speech and strong words Hopkins uses;
• state the message of the poem.

Who was Gerard Manley Hopkins?

Gerard Manley Hopkins was an English poet and a Jesuit priest, one of the Victorian writers. He was born on 28 July 1844 in Stratford. He attended St Beuno’s College in North Wales to study Theology, where he learned Welsh and was encouraged by his superior to write poetry.

He died of typhoid fever on 8 June 1889 and was buried in Dublin. His poems include “Spring and Fall”, “Carrion Comfort” and “God’s Grandeur”. They centre on the theme of the manifestation of God in nature. He used poetry to express his religious beliefs through images from nature.

What is the background of “Binsey Poplars”?

“Binsey Poplars” (subtitled “felled 1879”) is a 19th-century poem. Hopkins was a poet of the Victorian era, which refers to the literature that flourished when Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire between 1837 and 1901. The Victorian era was a bridge between the Romantic era and the 20th-century era. This is why some characteristic features of Romantic poetry are still reflected in the poem, where Hopkins laments bitterly over the destruction of nature, such as trees.

The heartless industrialisation of the 19th century moved Hopkins to express what has been lost through the cutting and unnecessary felling of trees (deforestation). Here the poet’s persona mourns the loss of a forest to human destruction, then urges readers to be mindful of damaging nature. Cutting down trees becomes a metaphor for the larger destruction caused by 19th-century urbanisation and industrialisation.

What is the subject matter of the poem?

The poem “Binsey Poplars” (1879) deals with the destruction of natural objects that results from the indiscriminate felling of poplar trees (tall, straight trees with soft wood) in Binsey, a small village in England. While the poet was wandering in the north of the city, he came across a line of tall trees cut down in the village of Binsey, with which he had long been familiar. Binsey Poplars is a metaphor for the destruction caused by 19th-century society.

What does each part of the poem mean?

Lines 1-5

The persona begins by lamenting the cutting of his dear aspens. An aspen is a type of poplar tree with leaves that move even when there is very little wind. Its delicate beauty lies not only in its appearance but also in the way its leaves create airy cages that screen the sunlight.

The poet complains bitterly that those lovely trees have been “felled”, “not spared, not one”. Not one of the “fresh following folded rank” was spared. “Following folded rank” refers to the simple arrangement of the line of trees, with their heights and gaps making a vertical “fold”. The interlacing shadows of the branches of the poplars are likened to the lacing on sandals: “that dandled a sandalled”.

Lines 7-11

The poet persona continues to lament the cutting of the trees and points out how useful they are, since they serve as shelter and provide a cool breeze. The speaker says that we do not know the implications of rendering nature useless by cutting down the poplar trees that create beautiful scenery in the world. He also sees it as an attack on nature and an insult to God’s creatures and creation.

He uses the strong verbs “hew”, “hack” and “rack” to suggest the seriousness of the destruction. To “delve” means to dig something up, and to “hew” means to chop something, usually with an axe. The speaker laments that we (human beings) do not know what we are doing when we dig up, chop down, hack apart or “rack” (fill with pain) the natural world. Nature is also described here, using metonymy, as “the growing green”.

Lines 12-15

The persona continues to ponder man’s habit of destroying nature, using a subtle tone. He equates his love for the poplars with love of a country (meaning the countryside or nature, not the country of England), which is tender to touch, fragile and sensitive. The very being of nature, its essence, is “slender” in the speaker’s view, as thin and almost as frail as a woman.

The speaker goes on to describe the beauty of the poplars and compares it to that of a woman or an eyeball. He uses personification to show that nature is sensitive: “like this sleek and seeing ball / But a prick will make no eye at all”.

This means that cutting down the poplar trees is like removing one’s eyeball, which would cause pain and anguish. This is the point the speaker makes when he says that a small injury “will make no eye at all” (line 15). With this comparison, the persona presents nature as so fragile and delicate that any harm to it can destroy it.

Lines 16-19

The poet maintains that even when we want to improve and repair our natural surroundings, even when we mean to mend her, we are changing and damaging her just the same. This act of tampering with nature has been a problem ever since the advent of modern human civilisation. This is what the speaker means when he says “we end her”. We stop nature from being natural when we attempt to fix it.

This means that the persona disapproves of any form of deforestation and afforestation, because he sees no advantage in either. He adds that once we cut down or dig up nature (like the aspen trees), the next generation will have no idea how beautiful the environment was before. They will not be able to guess the beauty of their natural environment.

Lines 20-24

The persona describes the havoc done to nature, which might be “ten or twelve strokes of havoc” that “unselve”. “Unselve” is a figurative way to describe the blows of an axe undoing the natural beauty of the scene. The speaker suggests that cutting down those trees does not just change the beauty of the scene. It goes deeper, changing the very essence of the natural world itself. Those tree-choppers are undoing nature.

The last three lines of the poem bring to mind a theatrical soliloquy, as we imagine the speaker in dismay at the destruction he has witnessed, almost in a state of mumbling near-insanity. Cutting down and replanting of poplars in Binsey in 1879 reflects the endurance of nature itself.

The word “havoc” suggests chaos and a lack of control, because humans end up destroying their own environment through these actions.

What is the message of the poem?

The poem is a clarion call to all humans who are unable to see the bigger picture. We may think that we are making progress in technology, but if we sacrifice the earth in the process, it is in vain. It suggests a lack of care and foresight for those in the future who will never know of this beauty. It pains the poet greatly that humans destroy in a short time what has taken a lifetime to grow and flourish.

Evaluation

1. Name three poems written by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
2. What is an aspen?
3. What does the comparison with an eyeball in lines 12-15 tell us about nature?
4. What does the speaker mean by “we end her” in lines 16-19?
5. State the message of “Binsey Poplars”.

Assignment

1. Explain how the word “unselve” is used in the poem.
2. Identify two strong verbs used in lines 7-11 and say what they suggest about the destruction of the trees.
3. Write a short paragraph on how “Binsey Poplars” reflects the effects of 19th-century industrialisation.