Reely's Poetry Blog

By GERALD MANLEY HOPKINS (1844-1889)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
    For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
    Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
    And áll trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spáre, strange;
    Whatever is fickle, frecklèd (who knows how?)
With swíft, slów; sweet, sóur; adázzle, dím;
    He fathers-forth whose beauty is pást change:
                            Práise hím.