The Geometry of Grief:
Analysis of Poems by Denis Johnson and Gerard Manley HopkinsAmong the most potent subject matter for any writer is grief. In secret, in the dark, we have all felt a pain too powerful to convey. It is for this reason that describing a poem as mournful is generally a compliment. Why do we rave about books and films that make us cry? We love these works because they give us a glimpse into another soul, one with some of the same problems and vulnerabilities as we have. We cry with artists because they are like us: imperfect. We cry and wipe away tears and go on to smile again. The reconciliation that comes after a time of mourning is rejuvenating. There is sometimes a feeling of such cleansing after crying as to make one wonder if happiness is all it is cracked up to be. To touch upon the subjects of grief and its reconciliation or lack thereof are among the poet's chief concerns. Denis Johnson's poem, "Sway," and Gerard Manley Hopkins' "No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief" are examples of how poets of different eras deal with the sorrow inherent in human life. Denis Johnson's title, "Sway," is an interesting metaphor that attempts to sum up his feelings concerning grief and hap
When Hopkins writes, "Here! creep, / Wretch, under a comfort serves in a whirlwind" (Hopkins 12-13), he introduces for the first time the idea of the spiral in the form of a whirlwind. the story that begins / I did not know who she was / and ends I did not know who she was" (Johnson 11, 12-14). Denis Johnson's circular grief that eventually bounces back to harmony is obviously quite the opposite. By reading and relating to the poem, the reader can, in a sense grasp the poet's extended hand. One never feels the relief of knowing that he has reached the worst, that it can only get better from here. Hopkins' spiral might also be seen as turning from the outward further and further inward, which would also mirror the experience of the speaker. He takes a more rationally balanced approach to his image of grief, the speaker realizing even in his most desperate hour that harmony will again return even if it seems far off now. One might wonder if in this line Hopkins does not underestimate his audience. The speaker's implication that we may not have felt this same pain encourages us to acknowledge that we have. One of the most poignant phrases Hopkins uses to describe his geometry of grief comes at the end of the poem. He describes the mind as a mountain with "cliffs of fall / Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed" (Hopkins 9-10), going on to say, "Hold them cheap / May who ne'er hung there" (Hopkins 10-11). As I have already suggested, this fact might also be attributed to idea that the poem is intended merely as a glimpse of an irrational extreme of a particular emotion. His geometry of grief is only similar to Hopkins' in that they are both essentially circular, one contained within set parameters and one spiralling into oblivion. There is not, nor will there ever likely be a faction of humanity untouched by grief.
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Acceptance Essays
