The Windhover
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
To Christ our Lord
I CAUGHT this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing, 5
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion 10
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.
Hopkins was one of the most interesting of the English-language poets of the early 20th century, chiefly for his word choice, lyrical verses, and use of punctuation to set off the meter. It is thought that his familiarity with the Welsh language is what influenced the poetic application of the English. What also makes him interesting is that he is actually a late 19th century poet, but most of his poetry wasn't discovered and popularized until forty years later. He was also a Roman Catholic priest of the Jesuit order.
The Windhover is simply about observing a kestrel hawk in flight; with the narrative shifting to allusions of the Resurrection the poet marks how what appears to be common may reveal beauty. Whether it is a familiar bird in flight, the sludge that polishes brass, or dead embers dropping from red hot wood, the common will always reveal the uncommon; or a simple rabbi will become the knight, or chevalier, through whom the human race may live in beauty.