1844-1889. English poet and Jesuit priest.
His work, marked by its religious themes and
use of natural imagery, includes `The Wreck
of the Deutschland' 1876 and `The Windhover'
1877. His employment of `sprung rhythm'
greatly influenced later 20th-century poetry.
His poetry was written in secret, and
published 30 years after his death by his
friend Robert Bridges. Hopkins was converted
to Roman Catholicism 1866, and in 1868 began
training as a Jesuit. His poetry is
profoundly religious and records his struggle
to gain faith and peace, but also shows
freshness of feeling and delight in nature.