During the Victorian era, most poets did not focus on nature and the divine world, but rather on the cultural and social issues occurring in England at that time period. But Gerard Manley Hopkins chose not to follow the path of his fellow poets and, as he wrote his poetic masterpieces, took more of a romantically inspired path. Gerard Manley Hopkins chose to write about nature and Christianity, just like the Romantic poets Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and John Keats. Most of his poems were written when he was a Christian priest, which is why his poems had numerous traces of Christian theology and communicated the beauty of nature. He also created the idea of ​​poetic originality, which involves a poem that uses wordplay, unusual rhymes, omission of some words, use of interjections, and unusual compound words. All of Hopkins' work had most of these traits that make his poetry easy to identify. Two of his poems "Spring" and "Pied Beauty" have strong themes such as nature, God and poetic originality, all favorite themes of Hopkins. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "Spring", written in 1880 focusing primarily on how it is ultimately up to God to protect the beauty and innocence of nature from sin. Many lines in this poem have strong connections with nature. The poem opens with “Nothing is as beautiful as spring” (line 1), Hopkins is saying that spring is beautiful and nothing can compare to its beauty. Spring is often associated with the meaning of renewal and rebirth which is related to God and his creations. The poem goes on to say, “When the weeds, in wheels, sprout long and fair and lush” (line 2); this line can be translated as the weeds and regrowth that begin to sprout in early spring. A main feature of Hopkins' poetic originality is his use of wordplay. In line 2 the word 'shoot' can be interpreted with two meanings. 'Shoot', together with the image of the wheels, provides a sense of movement and progress much like the spring season at the end of a long winter. The word 'sprout' can also refer to the shoots of weeds and new growth that emerges from the soil. There are great elements of nature in every line of “Spring,” as in the description “with richness; even the racing lambs were successful” (line 8). This line is a combination of the nature theme and the innocence theme. This line has a connotation of innocence due to the inclusion of lambs, which are often associated with Christianity and innocence. There is also an internal rhyme, which is another trait of Hopkins' poetic originality. The internal rhyme is between "fair" and "they" and an alliteration of "wealth" and "race" along with "fair" and "fling". Line 3 is also very important in the theme of nature in this poem, “thrush eggs look like little low skies, and thrush”. In this verse the speaker compares the eggs of a thrush (which is a bird) to the sky. This line describes the “heaven on earth” feeling that spring brings when it first arrives. By introducing the heavens he gives a religious tone to the poem. Some critics also believe that Hopkins intentionally omitted "like" to draw attention to how close the connection is between the eggs and the sky. This poem was heavily based on Hopkins' occupation and love of nature as a priest. It also features heavy traces of the poetic originality that Hopkins was known for. However, “Spring” was not the only Hopkins poem filled with symbols, imagery, Christianity, and the beauty of nature..