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In honour of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Laybrother of the Society of Jesus

By Gerard Manley Hopkins

Topics: classic

Honour is flashed off exploit, so we say;     And those strokes once that gashed flesh or galled shield     Should tongue that time now, trumpet now that field,     And, on the fighter, forge his glorious day.     On Christ they do and on the martyr may;     But be the war within, the brand we wield     Unseen, the heroic breast not outward-steeled,     Earth hears no hurtle then from fiercest fray.     Yet God (that hews mountain and continent,     Earth, all, out; who, with trickling increment,     Veins violets and tall trees makes more and more)     Could crowd career with conquest while there went     Those years and years by of world without event     That in Majorca Alfonso watched the door.

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"Honour is flashed off exploit, so we say;..."

This evocative piece by Gerard Manley Hopkins, titled "In honour of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Laybrother of the Society of Jesus", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:Gerard Manley Hopkins

"Honour is flashed off exploit, so we say;..." by Gerard Manley Hopkins

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Gerard Manley Hopkins

About Gerard Manley Hopkins

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) was an English Jesuit poet who invented "sprung rhythm," a new metrical system. His poems—including "The Windhover," "Pied Beauty," and "God's Grandeur"—were published posthumously and are now celebrated for their ecstatic language and innovative prosody.

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