Analysis Of Binsey Poplars By G.M Hopkins II SS2 Literature-in-English Lesson Note

THEMES

1. Man’s Relationship with Nature

The poem “Binsey Poplar” deals with humanity’s relationship with the natural world. It is entirely based on the persona’s love affair with some trees as he becomes upset to see those poplars chopped (cut) down. By cutting down those poplars man’s general natural world of beauty is eroded. The persona laments bitterly at the beginning of the poem, “My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled/all felled, are all felled/not spared, not one. “This is a result of heartless industrialization of 19th century society which witnessed man’s attempt to alter the world of beauty provided by the aspens as Hopkins contemplates on what has been lost to cutting and unnecessary felling of trees (deforestation).

2. Theme of Beauty of Nature

The poem explores the admiration of natural beauty provided by nature. The speaker’s love for poplars in Binsey goes deeper than mere admiration because they help improve the quality of water, soil and air, create a beautiful landscape, and enrich the Ecosystem, limiting desertification. Planting poplars in naturalized areas helps control erosion. The persona therefore just cannot forget the above-mentioned benefits accrued to poplars as he does not want to see them cut down indiscriminately. The speaker goes further to admire the aspens by equating his love for them to that of love for a beautiful woman, love for a country and the sensitivity of the eyeball. “Since the country is so tender to touch her so slender that, like sleek and seeing the ball. But a prick will make no eye at all”.

Here the persona describes the beauty of the popular as a kind of beauty possessed by a woman who is so tender” and “slender to touch, both fragile and delicate. Also, his views about the poplars are like a country whose citizens swear to protect the territorial integrity and always remain patriotic, come what may. The poplars are so precious to the persona that he begins to see and compare them to human eyeballs. Just as no man with his right senses will ever gorge out his eyeball because of pain, so also man will not attempt to chop down poplars. He says “But a prick will make no eye at all/mend her we end her”. This means that nature is constant and “Changeless, any attempt to alter it will render it more useless.

3. Effect of Industrialization

The poet exposes the danger of Industrialisation in the poem. The beauty provided by trees and nature is lost completely when these trees are cut down for industrial purposes. (Lines 22-24)

4. Theme of Destruction of Nature

The poem offers a commentary on the current battle to save the environment from the mindless destruction by humans. He expresses his frustration, hopelessness and sadness when he visits a small town called “Binsey” in Oxford after his education. The poet is not happy seeing the poplars cut down which has not only affected the environment, such as undue exposure to the sun rays, but also changed the beautiful landscape.

STRUCTURE

‘Binsey Poplars’ is set out in two stanzas and follows an innovative technique devised by Hopkins himself, known as ‘sprung rhythm’, a form of meter he derived from the rhythms heard in everyday speech and songs. In sprung rhythm, the stress is usually on the first syllable and several unstressed syllables could follow. He also makes extensive use of internal rhyme and compound adjectives which lend the poem a certain urgency that effectively conveys his sadness and shock that his beloved trees have been chopped down. The first stanza has 8 lines while the second stanza has 16 lines, a total of 24 lines.

STYLE/POETIC DEVICES

1. Simile: There is an indirect comparison in line 14: “like this sleek and seeing ball “where the persona equates incessant chopping down of aspen to that of removing eyeballs.
2. Personification: Here the speaker sees nature or Poplar as her, thereby giving human attributes to an inanimate object. It is seen as feminine; for it is tender and fragile and any attempt to help her beauty all would be lost. “To mend “her” will end “her” (Line 13) “To touch her being is slender” (Line 17) Nature is personified as a”her “. Even trying to fix “her” is too much interference in the speaker’s view.
3. Repetition: Some words are deliberately repeated to drive home the point and for emphasis. In line 3, the persona repeats the word “felled” three times to emphasize the enormity of evil unleashed on aspens. Also, three short lines are repeated with rhymes to underline the damage done to the countryside-the spoiling of the scene, and the loss of beauty. It is as if the poet is trying to compensate for the felled, felled, the felled by reinstating it over and over.
4. Alliteration: Another device used to create a Lyrical effect in the poem. This alliteration is illustrated in the lines below:
5. “Quelled or quenched” (line 2)
6. “Of a fresh and following fold (line 4)

iii. “Swam or sank” (line 7)

1. “Sleek and seeing ball (line 14)
2. “Where we, even where we mean (line 16)
3. “The Sweet special scene (line 22)

vii. “Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve

1. “Wind-wandering wedding winding bank
2. Assonance: “Quelled or quenched” (line 2)
3. “Dandled or sandalled (line 6)

iii. “Shadow that swam or sank (line 7)

1. “This sleek and seeing ball (line 14)

v  “To mend her we end her (line 17)

1. “Hack and rack (line 11)
2. Inversion: In line 1, there is an abnormal reversal of word order “My aspens dear” instead of “My dear aspens”. Also in line 5, “Not spared, not one” instead of “Not on was spared” to enable the poet to achieve spring rhythm.
3. Metaphor: Inline four: “Of a fresh and following folded rank”, the poet likens the lines of aspens to a rank of soldiers. The military image implies that the industrial development of the countryside equals a land of warfare. “Growing green” is a metaphor for zest for life. There is also an analogy with the removal of eyeballs and destruction of nature and it suggests that those who thoughtlessly destroy nature lack vision, and that action might bring irreversible damage.
4. Enjambment: also known as run-on-lines is when one phrase flows from one line into the next. Enjambment creates a flowing or winding effect that mimics the river bank that looks endless. E.g. “Shadow that swam or sank, “On meadow and river and wind wandering weed-winding bank” (Lines 7-8).
5. Mood: the feeling of the persona is that of regret and disgust
6. Tone: The tone is mournful melancholic and nostalgic.
7. Language: The language is ultimately complex and somewhat simple because of some words that are difficult to explain like ‘dandled’

The poem is full of unusual word coinages and conversion, internal rhymes and sprung rhythm. Here the poet uses “dandle” (instead of a more familiar word such as “dangled” to create a rhyme and “sandalled”. There are also many consonant clusters known as cacophonous sounds.