“Strange Elation” and a Strange Relation
“Strange Elation” and a Strange Relation
Gerard Hopkins and Caribbean Poetry
While Gerard Manley Hopkins—a supporter of British imperialism who did not engage with issues surrounding colonialism, slavery, or race—might seem a surprising model for post-colonial writers, he has in fact generated powerful responses in Caribbean poets through his playful rhythmic sensibility, attunement to individuality, religious faith, and environmental consciousness. For John Figueroa, Derek Walcott, Lorna Goodison, Pamela Mordecai, John Robert Lee, Jane King, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Kwame Dawes, and Vladimir Lucien, Hopkins has been an important example of linguistic resistance. His authenticity of voice, even when it comes from a distant land and culture, has inspired writers whose voices have often been marginalized; his attention to linguistic variation has stimulated experiments with patterns and intonations of Caribbean Anglophone dialects; and his idiosyncratic descriptions of the material world have given Caribbean writers an example of how to capture the uniqueness of their own vibrant landscapes.
Keywords: Emily Taylor Merriman, John Figueroa, Derek Walcott, Lorna Goodison, Pamela Mordecai, John Robert Lee, Jane King, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Kwame Dawes, Vladimir Lucien
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