Hopkins and Newman on Poetry

This article examines two statements that Hopkins made on Newman as a poet and as a critic of poetry. Hopkins carefully analyzed the literary genealogy of Newman’s poetry, indifferently assessed its general achievement, and specifically criticized one point in Newman’s judgment of a poet. Hopkins’ statements, which came late in his own career, give no hint of a process of change in his response to Newman’s poetry. But Newman’s numerous remarks, gleaned from random sources over forty years, demonstrate change in his theory of poetry.