Heaven-Haven Comments

And I have asked to be Where no storms come, .......well said. Nicely executed poem. Thanks a lot 🙏

Really a poignant rendition elegantly brought forth with spiritual insight................

I always believed this poem to be about a nun taking her vows. It moves me greatly. But then, I AM Irish.

It is appallingly badly read by someone who has a tin ear - Hopkins deserves better.

A sad poem. Simple yes, but carries the despair and the poet's depression. Verbs used 'desired' and 'asked' indicate a high level of low humour. The need to go to heaven. Sometimes simplicity illustrates genius.

He is one of the great immortals, thats a given. But sometimes even the lordliest and grandest poet / writer can be at a loss for something to write. By nature we HAVE to write, so he doodles, scribbles and fiddles about searching for inspiration. We are all human and we've all done it. So, to be brutally honest, in this instant he has scrawled lines of bad grammar, with no lilt or assonance and the basic cliches of imagination. He would probably wish that he'd scrapped it if he were here today. I would have preferred it if he'd let it find it's own way to the litter bin.

Wow! what an imaginative world Created by you. Please don't go alone Let me take with along.

Beautiful simple with full of bliss.

This is simply fantastic! I like it

i like it..it's very nice.

Woah, that April 1 thing is weird.

It's kind of funny that this poem always seems to be posted on the first of April every year based on the dates of the comments.

But, if he ever were to write something 'new' I bet it'd be extremely metaphorical, considering his present state and all! ! !

You're gonna wait a long time Jason he's been dead for over a hundred years.

your so good in writing poems mr. hopkins. im waiting for more.

Whenever I see a poem posted on this site written by a clegyman or a Christian mystic, I anticipate a response from the village atheist as he goes door to door peddling his noxious wares! Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was both priest and poet, a gifted writer and a devout believer in a faith that demanded a strong will and the ability to persevere. Of course, one can read Hopkins or Shakespeare and utter as commentary 'So! ? ' What does 'Heaven-Haven' mean to those smug atheists who can sit back and wave a languid wrist at someone who puts his beliefs in well-chosen words the way Father Hopkins does? The adjectives are few and far between. I count fewer than a baker's dozen - sharp and sided, a few, a green swell in havens dumb, Not one syllable more than is absolutely necessary to evoke the sensuous imagery of a stormy green day in the highlands with the implied comfort of that 'heaven-haven' the speaker desires. Perhaps it's true as Fiona writes that such yearning is universal, but take note how well Hopkins embodies that abstract longing in vivid language!

Who does not desire to be in a Heaven-Haven....a sample poem of human desire by the words of the poet

I like this...the occasional desire to retreat is natural but finding somewhere to do it....much more difficult!

A problem-less life he wishes to have and says it's heaven! Well and good to have a such one for all!

Does this poem express the sub-text of the wishes of all those people who want to escape life for a life of prayer? Its' one of those poems after which one must ask 'So? ' I think Daniel Wheeler's 'i think it sucked' deserves a little clarification!