In the poem “Pied Beauty”, Gerald Hopkins explores the theme of creativity. Through the structure, rhythm, and sound of the poem, Hopkins suggests that God is the creator of all things and should be praised for the beautiful variety of it all.
The structure of the poem is important in conveying the beauty of things created by God. The form of the poem itself is “pied”, which essentially means jumbled. The poem’s rhythm, as well as its line structure, are fairly standard and seemed planned, although they are not completely predictable. This may highlight Hopkins’ thought that God is organised yet we cannot fully foresee what he is going to do with the course of the world, which makes life so beautiful. Rather then composing the poem in free-verse Hopkins maintains a sonnet-like rhythm scheme that is very ordered, imitating God’s perfectly organised control of the universe. He starts the poem with “Glory to God” and ends with a two-syllable line “Praise Him”, giving it a feeling of a hymn as well as powerfully emphasising the importance for the reader to praise “He fathers-forth whose beauty if past change”.
Moreover, Hopkins describes God’s creativity by his wonderful sounds. The poem flows with alliteration, making it sound beautiful, highlighting the beauty of what God has created. “Fresh firecoal chestnut falls; finches wings.” The four “f” sounds in line 4 is not the only time in the poem that Hopkins uses alliteration to create striking music with his words. In line 2, he alliterates the “c” sound with “couple-colour as a brinded cow,” and then in line 5, “plotted and pieced, fold fallow, and plough,” there is alliteration of both the “p” and “f” sound. In the second half of the poem, line 8 has an alliterated “f” sound again with “fickle, freckled,” and then line 9 has both “s” and “d” alliteration, “swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim.”