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Holograph draft of 'Binsey Poplars', poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins

 Single Item
MS. Eng. c. 8235
Held at the Weston Library

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Digital surrogate of the holograph draft of 'Binsey Poplars'

Digital surrogate of the holograph draft of 'Binsey Poplars'
Link to digital surrogate

Written mostly in ink on three sides of a bifolium, the manuscript reveals extensive autograph deletions, revisions and repetitions. Fol. 1 recto is a lightly amended fair copy of lines 1-16 as eventually published. The draft continues onto fol. 2 recto where the closing lines of the poem are heavily reworked from 'To mend her we end her' to the subsequently discarded line 'Other Springs, more Summers / cannot render'. This is followed by two more discarded lines and an unamended fair copy of the last five lines as published; both versions dated 'Oxford. March 13 1879' (with first date crossed out).

On fol. 1 verso are five hitherto unrecorded lines, beginning 'Other Springs, fresh Summers', written in ink over a pencil draft and then scored through by Hopkins. They are followed by five lightly-amended lines beginning 'Will Springs or Summers'. These reworkings were intended to precede the last lines of the poem, 'Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve'. There are numerous stress marks characteristic of the poet throughout. Fol. 2 verso is blank.

Dates

  • Creation: 1879

Extent

2 Leaves

Language of Materials

  • English

Conditions Governing Access

To ensure its availability to future readers, access to this item is restricted, and readers are asked to work from reproductions and published descriptions as far as possible. To apply to see the original, please send a message to specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk, outlining the subject of your research, the importance of this item to that research, and the resources you have already consulted. Please also tell us about the timeframe for your project, if any, and when you hope to visit.

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MS. Eng. c. 8235].

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Shelfmark:

MS. Eng. c. 8235

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 7276

Abstract

Holograph draft of 'Binsey Poplars', poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Biographical / Historical

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889), English poet, studied at Oxford where he was tutored by Benjamin Jowett and Walter Pater and met his future editor Robert Bridges. He converted to Catholicism in 1866 and entered the Society of Jesus in 1868, although he could not progress in the order due to failing his final theology exam. After various curateships he settled in Dublin where he taught Greek and Latin at the Royal University of Ireland. He died here in 1889 with only a handful of his poems in print. For further biographical details see Dictionary of National Biography.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Bonhams, The Roy Davids Collection Part III, lot 224, 10 Apr 2013, with the help of the Friends of the Bodleian, V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Friends of the National Libraries and individual donors. The manuscript was previously in personal possession of Anthony Bertram Rota (1932-2009).

Title
'Binsey Poplars' by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Status
Published
Author
Finding aid prepared by Original catalogue by Judith Priestman. EAD version by Harriet Costelloe
Date
2016
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom