get thee to Oxford

my grad advisor forwarded just about the best literary news in the world i could receive:  a new set of the writings of English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (1845-1889) have been discovered and brought to one of the libraries at Oxford!

Hopkins has been one of my favorite poets for well over 20 years.  i have many of his poems memorized and even presented a paper at a national literary conference on his innovative use of sprung rhythm because, yes, i am just that much of a literary nerd.

i have an out of print book on his life and writings, copies of his poetry in different sized books, one pocket sized so i can take it on walks with me more easily, and even sketched one of his poems into a large art canvas.  why do i love his work so much?  his sensitivity to nature, beauty, and God for starters, as well as kindness to his fellow men and women.  he had an innate ability to appreciate the invisible attributes of goodness and truth from what is visible in the world. 

he lived only 44 years, dying of typhoid in Dublin.  but even his last words are beautiful, "i loved my life."

so naturally, a trip to Oxford to see the original manuscripts is on my mind.  to read the article and learn more about Hopkins you can click here:  discover Hopkins