Gerard+Manley+Hopkins2

Gerard Manley Hopkins


Gerard Manley Hopkins was born July 28, 1844 in Essex, England. He was born to High Church Anglican parents Manley and Catherine Hopkins. Gerard was the first of nine children. He attended Balliol College in Oxford from 1863-1867 on a scholarship. In 1866, in search for a religion he could truely relate to, he joined the Roman Catholic Church. A year later he joined the Society of Jesus and began to struggle with the idea of writing poetry saying it was too individualistic and self-indulgent; so he burnt all of his early poems. He began writing poetry again in 1875 and became a Jesuit Priest in 1877. In 1884 he was appointed to be a Greek and Latin Professor at University College in Dublin. His teaching appointment led him to a great struggle with depression until his dying day on June 8, 1888 of typhoid fever. His last words, determined not to let his depression get the best of him were, "I am happy, so happy." The vast majority of his poems were arranged for publication after his death by his good friend from Oxford, Robert Bridges, in 1918.