Gerard Manley Hopkins – The Answer Wall

November 20, 2018November 20, 2018

I don’t think Hopkins would have loved emoji…but with his drafting background… perhaps???

I don't think Hopkins would loved emoji...but with his drafting background perhaps??? — I don’t think Hopkins would have loved emoji…but with his drafting background… perhaps???

It’s hard to say… on the one hand, he was an artist and draftsman in addition to being a poet, and might therefore have appreciated tiny typescript images. On the other hand, although many poets have experimented with shape poems (such as this one by George Herbert in the 17th Century: bit.ly/easter-wings), Hopkins never seems to have made shape poems, suggesting that blending writing drawing wasn’t an interest.

November 19, 2018November 20, 2018

Does BC have a well known Gerard Manley Hopkins scholar amidst our faculty? Thanks for the exhibit <3

Does BC have a well known Gerard Manley Hopkins scholars amidst our faculty? Thanks for the exhibit <3 — Does BC have a well known Gerard Manley Hopkins scholar amidst our faculty? Thanks for the exhibit <3

You must be talking about the poet Paul Mariani, who has published widely on Hopkins. Watch an interview about his biography of Hopkins: bit.ly/hopkins-a-life, or read the biography: Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Life (O’Neill Library PR4803 .H44 Z71715 2008). BTW, he’s also published biographies of the poets Robert Lowell, John Berryman, and W.C. Williams.

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.