G.M. Hopkins had stayed in Ireland for 5 years until he died and spent his hardest time in his livelihood but best time for his literature. He had converted to Catholic in his youth and became a priest at last, in spite of the objection of his family. That is a kind of ideal-searching decision but it also means a spiritual seclusion in England which is ruled by Anglican Church. As a priest he was full of humanity, love of people, especially for low class poor persons, and always felt pity for their miserable lives. And he wanted all the English people choose the real religion, Catholic, and get bettered in their spirit, but he cannot but disappointing in their vulgarity and hypocrisy. Anyhow he had very sensitive and self-conscious personality to cope with all this situation bravely. When he went to Ireland as a teacher of Greek in University College, he might have felt a kind of friendship to Irish people through their religion, Catholic. But Irish people has had deep hostility to English people because of their historical background. And there was booming a mood of nationalism against England in those days when Hopkins stayed in Dublin. Of course, it was very hard to teach Irish young students full of hostility to English people. And his health grew worse and worse. In that miserable situation, he seemed to feel a kind of desperation that God discarded him. We can find his alone and isolated situation in the sonnet “To seem the stranger lies my lot, my life“ and more deep and private sentiment in another sonnet “I wake and feel the fell of dark“. It is ironical that his hard life made him write such good sonnets. His hard life was over with the sonnet “Thou art indeed just, Lord“ where he reconciles with his God at last. In conclusion, his staying in Ireland was a good opportunity for his poetry, his literary achievement.

• 신원철(삼척대) | Wonchul Shin