Today, December 7, 2025, marks the 150th anniversary of the wreck of the Deutschland, the event on which Gerard Manley Hopkins based the first of his ‘mature’ poems, which was written shortly after the tragedy. After becoming a Jesuit priest in 1868, Hopkins had decided not to write poetry anymore, but this event, along with some nudging by one of his superiors, catapulted him back to pen and paper. The sheer eruption that ensued would be known as The Wreck of the Deutschland, one of the greatest English poems ever written; and, although he composed the poem in 1875, it was not published until 1918—thirty years after his death.
Dr. Thomas Dilworth joins The Color of Dust to talk about The Wreck of the Deutschland, in particular, the first ten stanzas, known as the autobiographical or meditative section. In part 2, we cover stanzas 5-10 of the autobiographical section, noting the crucial themes that Hopkins seeded into the opening lines of his ode, which contains thirty-five stanzas in total. Please join us to discover the richness of his language, thought, and introspection—and perhaps take up Dr. Dilworth’s challenge to memorize the first eight lines. Below you will find both stanzas 5-10 of the poem and the music selected for this episode.
*(Note: Hopkins’s original indentations of each line were not followed in the version below.)
The Poem (Stanzas 5-10)
The Wreck of the Deutschland
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
I kiss my hand
To the stars, lovely-asunder
Starlight, wafting him out of it; and
Glow, glory in thunder;
Kiss my hand to the dappled-with-damson west:
Since, tho’ he is under the world’s splendour and wonder,
His mystery must be instressed, stressed;
For I greet him the days I meet him, and bless when I understand.
Not out of his bliss
Springs the stress felt
Nor first from heaven (and few know this)
Swings the stroke dealt—
Stroke and a stress that stars and storms deliver,
That guilt is hushed by, hearts are flushed by and melt—
But it rides time like riding a river
(And here the faithful waver, the faithless fable and miss).
It dates from day
Of his going in Galilee;
Warm-laid grave of a womb-life grey;
Manger, maiden’s knee;
The dense and the driven Passion, and frightful sweat;
Thence the discharge of it, there its swelling to be,
Though felt before, though in high flood yet—
What none would have known of it, only the heart, being hard at bay,
Is out with it! Oh,
We lash with the best or worst
Word last! How a lush-kept plush-capped sloe
Will, mouthed to flesh-burst,
Gush!—flush the man, the being with it, sour or sweet,
Brim, in a flash, full!—Hither then, last or first,
To hero of Calvary, Christ,’s feet—
Never ask if meaning it, wanting it, warned of it—men go.
Be adored among men,
God, three-numberéd form;
Wring thy rebel, dogged in den,
Man’s malice, with wrecking and storm.
Beyond saying sweet, past telling of tongue,
Thou art lightning and love, I found it, a winter and warm;
Father and fondler of heart thou hast wrung:
Hast thy dark descending and most art merciful then.
With an anvil-ding
And with fire in him forge thy will
Or rather, rather then, stealing as Spring
Through him, melt him but master him still:
Whether at once, as once at a crash Paul,
Or as Austin, a lingering-out swéet skíll,
Make mercy in all of us, out of us all
Mastery, but be adored, but be adored King.
The Music
The music chosen for this episode is the Kyrie portion from Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina, which you can both listen to and download below. Might the five nuns have been singing the 16th Century polyphonic Latin text of the Kyrie: “Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy…" during the fateful storm at sea? I like to think so. Regardless, enjoy this version of the Kyrie by Palestrina!
Our “Fourth” Cohost
Dr. Thomas Dilworth is the author of Here Away, a collection of poems. He is also the pre-eminent reader and interpreter of the work of David Jones and is featured on The Poetry Foundation for his poem Slighting.
Thank you for spending some time with The Color of Dust. We hope you enjoy this special poetry episode. Subscribe to receive future episodes like this one.
