A map of understandings and mis-

Despite the efforts of Robert Bridges to bring his work to a greater public understanding, Hopkins' prosody has been consistently misunderstood by many literary critics. Critics have, in many cases, been blinded by their own brilliance.

Hopkins wanted to use musical concepts such as counterpoint to clarify English poetic diction and to explore human speech.

This blog attempts first to go back to Hopkins' original description of what he was doing.

This blog then attempts to map the misunderstandings and the understandings-- of others as well as my own-- in an attempt to understand Hopkins' prosody.

I'm particularly looking for posts on the following topics:

1) Hopkins and other poets who understood him well; Amy Clampitt is my first example

2) Hopkins and critics who understood him well; Ivor Winters seems to be one.

3) Examples of critics and poets who, despite their best efforts, seriously misunderstood Hopkins; H. M. McLuhan comes to mind.