Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CARRION COMFORT, by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CARRION COMFORT, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Not, I'll not, carrion comfort, despair, not feast on thee
Last Line: Of now done darkness I wretch lay wrestling with (my god!) my god.
Variant Title(s): "the Terrible Sonnets: 1;""not, I'll Not, Carrion Comfort, Despair, Not Feast On Thee"";
Subject(s): Despair; Faith; Belief; Creed


NOT, I'll not, carrion comfort, Despair, not feast on thee;
Not untwist -- slack they may be -- these last strands of man
In me or, most weary, cry I can no more. I can;
Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be.
But ah, but O thou terrible, why wouldst thou rude on me
Thy wring-world right foot rock? lay a lionlimb against me? scan
With darksome devouring eyes my bruised bones? and fan,
O in turns of tempest, me heaped there; me frantic to avoid
thee and flee?

Why? That my chaff might fly; my grain lie, sheer and clear.
Nay in all that toil, that coil, since (seems) I kissed the rod,
Hand rather, my heart lo! lapped strength, stole joy, would
laugh, cheer.
Cheer whom though? the hero whose heaven-handling flung me, foot trod
Me? or me that fought him? O which one? is it each one?
That night, that year
Of now done darkness I wretch lay wrestling with (my God!) my God.






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