The Windhover Poem Summary

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The poem The Windhover as Gerard Manley Hopkins observes, was the best thing he had ever written. It was written at St. Bruno's on May 30, 1877. The middle of nineteenth-century The Windhover is the one that has probably attracted the most thought and commentary.

The Windhover Summary

The windhover is a bird with the rarely skilled hover in the air. It flies in the sky and scans the ground in search of prey. The poet sees a windhover or falcon hovering in the sky.

He calls the bird the darling of the morning, the crown prince of the kingdom of daylight, drawn by the dappled colours of dawn. While riding on the air the bird is controlling the air beneath him just as a skilful horseman controls his horse.

Suddenly, the bird breaks from his hovering and swings out and bends in the air. He is flying like the heel of a skate sweeping round a bow-shaped curve. Then, he moves forward smoothly as if without any effort. Thus, the bird easily rebuffs or defeats the wind by means of his skill.

The poet is inspired by the achievement and mastery of the bird. The bird possesses brute beauty which simply may mean natural beauty. Brute beauty, valour and act describe the qualities of the bird. These qualities buckle the poet. The poet sees the divine fire or energy breaking out from the falcon.

“Fire” describes the red feathers of the windhover's chest through a metaphor. That fire is not only lovely but also dangerous. The poet also calls the falcon “chevalier”, that is, the knight. The poet identifies the falcon with Christ. The bird's flight is an everyday occurrence. People might not take notice or find it to be so beautiful. So the poet lists a couple other things that are everyday occurrences but are also beautiful ploughing land and the darkened embers, or coals.

The Windhover Poem extended Summary

In the Octave, the poet describes the movement of the bird falcon. The poet has caught sight of a falcon who is the favourite bird of the daylight. The poet says that the bird hovers round on the tip of his extended wing, which is described as ‘wimpling', that is, rippling like a nun's wimple in movement.

This movement of the bird also reminds the poet of a skilful skater sweeping round smoothly “on a bow-bend" that is, while cutting a figure on the ice. The bird circles in the air as though controlling his movement in the wind a manner of a trainer “ringing on the rein” of a wild horse.

The bird pivots round on the tip of his extended wing which is described as “wimpling”. The phrase ‘hurf and gliding’ indicates the bird's energy, fight and power. The bird constantly hovers in the wind. The poet's heart is thrilled with admiration for the bird. The poet feels flattered to join the bird in its ecstasy. The skill of the bird thus seems to win a triumph over the wind. The poet's heart is filled with admiration for the bird.

In the sestet, the poet describes that the bird has  ‘brute beauty’, ‘valor’ and ‘act’. The beauty is balanced by prime, valour by pride and act by pride. In the flight of the hawk combine these three things combine. The poet tells his heart to surrender completely to Christ. Through such a self-surrender, the poet would see the splendour in the falcon.

The word ‘thee’ becomes both an address to the falcon as well as to Christ. Christ or the heavenly powers are both lovely as well as dangerous, a terrifying force to the sinful man. Faith in religious life produces a spiritual brightness in the soul.

The embers of a fire may appear to be dying: they may look bleak in their faded blue colour, but it is precisely then that these embers fall and bruise themselves so that they break open and reveal a hid- den fire or “gold vermilion”.

The poet's soul is “blue-bleak" or seemingly lifeless. But through suffering for the sake of Christ, the poet would experience a spiritual glory. The word “Buckle" may firstly mean to draw together, secondly to engage the enemy and finally to collapse. The word “Buckle” includes the meaning that what was before free in the heights, surrounded by light, unlimited, must now yield to, or become a thing that dwells in the lower darkness.

In the last three lines of the Sestet Hopkins introduces the images of a plough and burning coal in order to suggest the spiritual struggle. The ploughshare labourers below and furrows the soil but for this very reason is whetted so sharply that it shines.

So is the case with the human mind, that has the will and makes efforts to shine in the light of God. Coals also fall down, break up into pieces tear themselves apart and in the process become brighter.

The poet says that in order to achieve Christ we have to make a very hard spiritual struggle. The soul of the Individual is “blue-bleak” or seemingly lifeless. But through suffering and mortification for the sake of Christ, the soul of an individual would experience a spiritual glory.

Important questions about The Windhover

When was the poem The Windhover written?

✓The Windhover was written in 1877.

When was the poem The Windhover published?

✓The Windhover was published in 1918.

What is the Windhover?

✓The Windhover is a kestrel, a small European falcon or hawk somewhat resembling the American sparrow-hawk.

What type of poem The Windhover?

✓It is a sonnet written on the model of Petrarch.

To whom is the poem The Windhover dedicated?

✓The poem is dedicated to Christ our Lord.

What is the Windhover doing?

✓The Windhover is doing riding upon the air just as the dauphin or Prince may ride upon his horse.

Why the falcon is called the Windhover?

✓The falcon is able to hover in one place in the air while scanning the ground for prey, just like how a swimmer treads water. So, it is called Windhover.

What is valour?

✓Valour means to honour and courage.