Poetry of the Earth

This Earth Day has me thinking about the amazing details and oddities of the world around us. When NPR reminded me that April is National Poetry month, I immediately thought of a poem by one of my favorite poets, Gerard Manley Hopkins, on that very subject.

Pied Beauty

GLORY be to God for dappled things—

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

While I don’t see many trout, rose-moled or otherwise, where I live, I do appreciate the wildflowers popping up all over, the new bird calls that have been added in the last month as species head north, and the rain falling outside my window. Thinking about the details makes me want to protect them all. What particulars speak to your heart? How do you want to protect them this year?

I hope you and your family find many wonderful things to celebrate in the world surrounding you. Happy Earth Day!

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