Gerard Manley Hopkins

28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889 / Stratford, Essex

Duns Scotus's Oxford

Towery city |&| branchy between towers;
Cuckoo-echoing, bell-swarm{'e}d, lark charm{'e}d, rook racked,
river-rounded;
The dapple-eared lily below thee; that country |&| town did
Once encounter in, here coped |&| pois{'e}d powers;
Thou hast a base |&| brickish skirt there, sours
That neighbour-nature thy grey beauty is grounded
Best in; graceless growth, thou hast confounded
Rural, rural keeping -- folk, flocks, |&| flowers.

Yet ah! this air I gather |&| I release
He lived on: these weeds |&| waters, these walls are what
He haunted who of all men most sways my spirits to peace;
Of realty the rarest-vein{'e}d unraveller; a not
Rivalled insight, be rival Italy or Greece;
Who f{'i}red Fr{'a}nce for M{'a}ry with{'o}ut sp{'o}t.
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