In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Hopkins
  • Frank Fennell (bio)

The primary focus of this essay will be on Hopkins-related publications during 2012. However, because of their singular importance for the future of Hopkins scholarship, I must make an exception for the March 2013 publication of volumes I and II of the new Oxford edition of the Collected Works. These volumes, edited by Catherine Phillips and R. K. R. Thornton, join volume IV, Oxford Essays and Notes, 1863-1868, edited by Lesley Higgins and reviewed in these pages earlier (VP 46 [2008]: 346-352). We now have three of the projected eight volumes in this edition.

These two volumes constitute Hopkins' known Correspondence, divided into the years 1852-1881 (I) and 1882-1889 (II). The claim made above about the "singular importance" of these volumes for the future of Hopkins scholarship rests upon the advantages of this edition compared to any previous editions of the correspondence. The editors name the three major ones: "its order, its inclusiveness, and the extent of its annotation" (p. xlii). A few words about each will explain the significance for scholarship of this publication. [End Page 394]

Regarding order, whereas previous editions of Hopkins's letters were grouped by recipient—the letters to Robert Bridges, to Canon Dixon, to family members, etc.—the editors have now put all the letters in a simple chronological order, from the poet's first known letter at age seven or eight to his last, dictated a month before his death (both, interestingly, were to his mother). Furthermore they have included in their chronology all of the extant letters written to Hopkins. As to advantages, now scholars will find it much easier to trace the evolution of Hopkins's interests and ideas. For one quick example, the ever-changing drama of Hopkins' conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1866 becomes clearer when one reads the letters from and to Hopkins from August through December of that year. An understanding from them of how quickly he and his family made peace can prevent the overemphasis sometimes given to what Hopkins called the "terrible" answers he received from his parents when they first heard the news. To cite another example: at the very time Hopkins was apparently writing the so-called "terrible" sonnets, in the winter of 1885, a salutary caution against biographical over-interpretation comes from reading the concurrent letters to and from Bridges, Patmore, Newman, Dixon, Baillie, his mother, and others, where the subjects include poetry, music, politics, and the classics. Clearly, given his level of activity and his varied interests, not all of his time was spent in bed as an insomniac lamenting "no worst, there is none."

As to inclusiveness, I have already alluded to the 129 letters written to Hopkins. In addition the editors have included over two dozen letters of condolence received by Hopkins' family and others at the time of his death, letters which help us understand how his contemporaries perceived him—the recurrence of words like "saintly," "spiritual," and "beautiful" astonishes the reader. But perhaps the most important feature is the addition to the canon of 43 previously uncollected Hopkins letters, over 10% of the whole. As many—or any—further additions to the correspondence are unlikely, these new letters help complete our understanding of the poet's life and undertakings. To provide an example of what these letters can reveal, consider his jovial, slang-ridden letter of August 17, 1882, first discovered by Joseph Feeney S.J. It was written to three Jesuit friends, and begins "My hearties, —I am going to answer 'the three of yez' under one trouble—no, no, not trouble, not trouble: pleasure is the word—under one pleasure. This pleasure shall be brief, because, according to the one of yez, I am to call on yez on my way to Glasgow so very shortly" and then concludes "By the tenour of this I gather I must be in good spirits—a thing never to be granted if I can help it, it saps sympathy and importance" (pp. 533-534). So much for the image of a morose ascetic. Especially amusing is the notion that if he were to show such an unrelievedly grave demeanor...

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