The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Hopkins, Gerard Manley. "The Windhover." Poetry Foundation Online. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44402/the-windhover.

Note that parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

Gerard Manley Hopkins, now widely considered one of the most talented poets of the Victorian era, was not famous during his own lifetime. His signature poetic style differs dramatically from that of his contemporaries, relying on elements like disrupted syntax and exaggerated alliteration. Hopkins converted to Roman Catholicism after being raised by a Protestant family. Eventually, he became a Jesuit priest, a decision that drove him to burn all of his poems. He did not begin writing until 30 years after he entered the priesthood.

"The Windhover" is a sonnet, written in the form's traditional 14-line scheme. However, within this form, Hopkins employs vivid but out-of-context imagery, rendering the poem a challenge for many readers. The poem describes the speaker's encounter with a kestral bird, or windhover, which can hover above the ground as if suspended in stillness. The bird swoops down to attack its prey, and in so doing, inspires the speaker to ruminate on the power of God and the beauty of divine creation.