The Starlight Night
• Focuses Hopkins observing the constellations night on a starry night and reflecting
about it
Two Parts:
• Bombardment of dynamic images of constellations in the Octet to emphasise
Hopkins’ awe
• Volta in the Sestet to the beauty of the night sky being far greater than simply
what humans see from the exterior.
Bombardment of dynamic images of constellations in the Octet to emphasise
Hopkins’ awe
Hopkins likens the stars to numerous other things through various images:
• “O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!”- fantastical imagery creates a contrast
between fire and air- an elemental image emphasising the convergence of natural
forces in the night sky- this has connotations of energy and evokes the dynamism of
the stars.
• Through phrases like “flake doves” and “farmyard scare” the stars are related to a
fluster of frantic birds which provides connotations of rusticity and mundanity.
• Alternative image of the constellations: “the circle citadels there!”- “citadels” had
connotations of royalty and hence the grandeur and majesty of the constellations
• Hopkins states that the darker patches of the night sky, where there are fewer stars,
are like ‘grey lawns cold where gold, where quickgold lies’. Quickgold, a Hopkins
coinage, draws on the idea of the stars being gold-like treasures- evokes vitality and
dynamism of these constellations by describing their brightness
• This concept of stars being like gold is emphasised in the phrase: “the diamond
delves! The elves’- eyes!”
• Evocative noun “diamond delves” the phrase “elves’-eyes” likens the stars in
the night sky to diamonds in dark mines or caves.- emphasising brightness
and therefore their attraction which highlights Hopkins’ awe.
• Similarly to the “quickgold” the references to elves highlights the mythical and
magical element of this description of the stars- conveys Hopkin’s
enchantment by the constellations.
• “delves”- connotations of digging and exploring which infers disorientation just
like all the various images that Hopkins is picturing regarding the
constellations- all fantastical and magical to create this kaleidoscopic, dynamic
image of the myriad of stars’ majesty
Volta in the Sestet to the beauty of the night sky being far greater than simply what
humans see from the exterior
• First Line “Look up at the stars! look, look up at the skies!”-endearing urgency which
is impassioned by the repetition of the imperative “look” and the exclamation marks-
while this remark does not suggest the deeper meaning of the sky, it sets the
atmosphere of awe through its exclamatory tone.
• In the Sestet- Hopkins states that the way we “buy” and “bid”, for the privilege of
looking at the stars through ‘Prayer, patience, alms, vows.’ Hopkins implies that the
stars represent the heavens and is suggesting that the currency with which we bid for
heavens is devotion and dedication
• Focuses Hopkins observing the constellations night on a starry night and reflecting
about it
Two Parts:
• Bombardment of dynamic images of constellations in the Octet to emphasise
Hopkins’ awe
• Volta in the Sestet to the beauty of the night sky being far greater than simply
what humans see from the exterior.
Bombardment of dynamic images of constellations in the Octet to emphasise
Hopkins’ awe
Hopkins likens the stars to numerous other things through various images:
• “O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!”- fantastical imagery creates a contrast
between fire and air- an elemental image emphasising the convergence of natural
forces in the night sky- this has connotations of energy and evokes the dynamism of
the stars.
• Through phrases like “flake doves” and “farmyard scare” the stars are related to a
fluster of frantic birds which provides connotations of rusticity and mundanity.
• Alternative image of the constellations: “the circle citadels there!”- “citadels” had
connotations of royalty and hence the grandeur and majesty of the constellations
• Hopkins states that the darker patches of the night sky, where there are fewer stars,
are like ‘grey lawns cold where gold, where quickgold lies’. Quickgold, a Hopkins
coinage, draws on the idea of the stars being gold-like treasures- evokes vitality and
dynamism of these constellations by describing their brightness
• This concept of stars being like gold is emphasised in the phrase: “the diamond
delves! The elves’- eyes!”
• Evocative noun “diamond delves” the phrase “elves’-eyes” likens the stars in
the night sky to diamonds in dark mines or caves.- emphasising brightness
and therefore their attraction which highlights Hopkins’ awe.
• Similarly to the “quickgold” the references to elves highlights the mythical and
magical element of this description of the stars- conveys Hopkin’s
enchantment by the constellations.
• “delves”- connotations of digging and exploring which infers disorientation just
like all the various images that Hopkins is picturing regarding the
constellations- all fantastical and magical to create this kaleidoscopic, dynamic
image of the myriad of stars’ majesty
Volta in the Sestet to the beauty of the night sky being far greater than simply what
humans see from the exterior
• First Line “Look up at the stars! look, look up at the skies!”-endearing urgency which
is impassioned by the repetition of the imperative “look” and the exclamation marks-
while this remark does not suggest the deeper meaning of the sky, it sets the
atmosphere of awe through its exclamatory tone.
• In the Sestet- Hopkins states that the way we “buy” and “bid”, for the privilege of
looking at the stars through ‘Prayer, patience, alms, vows.’ Hopkins implies that the
stars represent the heavens and is suggesting that the currency with which we bid for
heavens is devotion and dedication
