The May Magnificat
MAY is Mary's month, and IMuse at that and wonder why:Her feasts follow reason,Dated due to season--
Candlemas, Lady Day;But the Lady Month, May,Why fasten that upon her,With a feasting in her honour?
Is it only its being brighterThan the most are must delight her?Is it opportunestAnd flowers finds soonest?
Ask of her, the mighty mother:Her reply puts this otherQuestion: What is Spring?--Growth in every thing--
Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,Grass and green world all together;Star-eyed strawberry-breastedThrostle above her nested
Cluster of bugle blue eggs thinForms and warms the life within;And bird and blossom swellIn sod or sheath or shell.
All things rising, all things sizingMary sees, sympathisingWith that world of good,Nature's motherhood.
Their magnifying of each its kindWith delight calls to mindHow she did in her storedMagnify the Lord.
Well but there was more than this:Spring's universal blissMuch, had much to sayTo offering Mary May.
When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dappleBloom lights the orchard-appleAnd thicket and thorp are merryWith silver-surfed cherry
And azuring-over greybell makesWood banks and brakes wash wet like lakesAnd magic cuckoocallCaps, clears, and clinches all--
This ecstacy all through mothering earthTells Mary her mirth till Christ's birthTo remember and exultationIn God who was her salvation.
Words in this poem
- candlemas n.
- The second day of February, on which is celebrated the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary; -- so called because the candles for the altar or other sacred uses are blessed on that day. [AS. candelmæsse, candel candle _ mæsse mass.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- throstle n.
- The song thrush. See under Song. [OE. throsel, AS. , ; akin to MHG. trostel, G. drossel, Icel. , Sw. trast, Lith. strazdas, L. turdus. *238. Cf. Thrush the bird.]
- sizing n.
- Act of covering or treating with size.
- motherhood n.
- The state of being a mother; the character or office of a mother.
- thorp n.
- A group of houses in the country; a small village; a hamlet; a dorp; -- now chiefly occurring in names of places and persons; as, Althorp, Mablethorpe. [AS. þorp; akin to OS. & OFries. thorp, D. dorp, G. dorf, Icel. þorp, Dan. torp, Sw. torp a cottage, a little farm, Goth. þaúrp a field, and probably to Lith. tr]
- mothering n.
- A rural custom in England, of visiting one's parents on Midlent Sunday, -- supposed to have been originally visiting the mother church to make offerings at the high altar.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The May Magnificat is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins Now First Published, Project Gutenberg ebook #22403; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Gerard Manley Hopkins, The May Magnificat, in Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22403, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hopkins-poems/the-may-magnificat.html, id L04388.
Form and metre
The May Magnificat is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 10 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 19 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 52% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABB iA · whyA · reasonB · seasonB
- 2 AA-- dayA · mayA · her · honour
- 4 AABB motherA · otherA · springB · thingB
- 5 AABB featherA · togetherA · breastedB · nestedB
- 6 AABB thinA · withinA · swellB · shellB
- 7 AABB sizingA · sympathisingA · goodB · motherhoodB
- 8 AABB kindA · mindA · storedB · lordB
- 9 AABB thisA · blissA · sayB · mayB
- 10 AABB dappleA · appleA · merryB · cherryB
- 11 AABB makesA · lakesA · cuckoocallB · allB
- 12 AABB earthA · birthA · exultationB · salvationB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| MAY is Mary's month, and I | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Muse at that and wonder why: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Her feasts follow reason, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Dated due to season-- | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Candlemas, Lady Day; | 6 | /˘˘/˘· |
| But the Lady Month, May, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Why fasten that upon her, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| With a feasting in her honour? | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Is it only its being brighter | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Than the most are must delight her? | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Is it opportunest | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| And flowers finds soonest? | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Ask of her, the mighty mother: | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Her reply puts this other | 7 | ·˘/··/˘ |
| Question: What is Spring?-- | 5 | /˘··· |
| Growth in every thing-- | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Flesh and fleece, fur and feather, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Grass and green world all together; | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Star-eyed strawberry-breasted | 7 | ··/·˘/˘ |
| Throstle above her nested | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Forms and warms the life within; | 7 | ······· |
| And bird and blossom swell | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In sod or sheath or shell. | 6 | ······ |
| All things rising, all things sizing | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Mary sees, sympathising | 7 | /˘·/˘·˘ |
| With that world of good, | 5 | ····· |
| Nature's motherhood. | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Their magnifying of each its kind | 9 | ·/˘·˘···· |
| With delight calls to mind | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| How she did in her stored | 6 | ······ |
| Magnify the Lord. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Well but there was more than this: | 7 | ······· |
| Spring's universal bliss | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Much, had much to say | 5 | ····· |
| To offering Mary May. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Bloom lights the orchard-apple | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And thicket and thorp are merry | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| With silver-surfed cherry | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| And azuring-over greybell makes | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes | 8 | ········ |
| And magic cuckoocall | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Caps, clears, and clinches all-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| This ecstacy all through mothering earth | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Tells Mary her mirth till Christ's birth | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To remember and exultation | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| In God who was her salvation. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.