Gerard Manley Hopkins - Felix Randal

Hopkins was born in 1844 to a middle class family. He was converted to Roman Catholicism under the influence of Great Cardinal Newman. Later on he became a Professor of Classics at the University College, Dublin. He was one of the greatest of the English poets. The poetry of Hopkins might be called 'passionate science'. Like other poets and painters of his era this poet and priest delighted in the observation of nature.  His principal ancestors are the religious metaphysical poets of the 17 th century, particularly George Herbert whom Hopkins much admitted. Hopkins can scarcely be considered a Victorian as he was ignored in his time. His talent was so highly original that one cannot characterize it as Victorian; in fact his use of language is modernistic. In most of his poems it is clearly evident a sensory vividness and keenness in intelligence. Furthermore most of Hopkins’ poems are highly individualistic poetry and particular to himself and he is a unique in much of his subject matter. he has often been praise for his closeness to the speaking voice, for his ability to convey the rhymes and intonations of English. He has lengthen the line to a basic six feet instead of five, to give himself more room for sweeping alliterative tone which he himself called as 'sprung rhythm.'
Felix Randal   
“Felix Randal” is a particular individualistic poem written by Hopkins and it highly represents the Victorian poetry in its Romanticism in theme, feelings and tone. At the same time the poem can be categorized as a religious poem too. Moreover there can be seen some effects of Pre-Raphaelitism which means an attempt to reveal truths through nature.

Hopkins’ sonnet Felix Randal reflects on long illness and death of a farrier called Felix Randal. The poet notices the ‘big-boned and hardy-handsome’ man reduced and declined ‘some fatal four disorders.’ In the process of the aggravating illness, the man loses the sense and power to his reason. Next the poet emphasizes the idea of his healing process. Being a priest poet the poet uses his spiritual power to heal the man. It is quiet paradoxical that physically strong men find it difficult to accept death. We see the extreme suffering of Felix. Furthermore the poet brings out the mutual bond between the healer (poet) and the healed (Felix). There is a bond of compassion and trust. Both exchanged their sympathy, empathy and kindness. Hopkins and Randal share similar feelings towards life. Hopkins enjoys by getting something out of life by giving his affection to other people through his priesthood. This mutuality is emphasized by the word “us”, which, obviously, evokes a certain bonding between the two people.

‘My tongue had taught thee comfort, touch had quenched thy tears, 
Thy tears that touched my heart, child, Felix, poor Felix Randal;’

Likewise Randal's tears also touched the priest's heart, so he is left with a sense of loss and mourning when the man dies. Their common humanity supported each with compassion. This common humanity was the basis of their divinity/ religion. Even though he was an extremely physically strong man he had to face the law of nature. In other words sickness can go beyond the physical power or the strength of men. Like all flesh Felix’s body broke under the law of nature (God). The vocabulary, which Hopkins uses in this quatrain, brings out the harshness and the boisterousness/ disorderliness of Felix Randal. Obviously a person needs to be strong and big-boned in order to be able to put horseshoes on horses. And Hopkins tried to make the reader aware that no matter how strong a person is; eventually that person will die. Again, the “mould of man” concept is apparent. Randall accepts his death through reprieve. Nature had given him a life extension for several months and now it was time for him to die. Felix became reconciled to his fate and achieved spiritual peace as a result of ministration of the poet- priest. “though a heavenlier heart began some Months earlier” this experience was mutually ennobling both farrier and the priest. Finally Felix became the poet priest’s spiritual child. But the process to understand and get agree with the law of nature was painful for both. 
Basically the poem deals with the theme of physical strength as a deterrent a spiritual strength and life and death. Furthermore we see the priest as a spiritual healer and also the lasting bond of the healer and the healed.  

Summary of Felix Randal

Hopkins through his sonnet Felix Randal sketches images of a long illness and death of a farrier called Felix Randal. The speaker observes that the ‘big-boned and hardy-handsome’ man had reduced and declined to ‘some fatal four disorder.’ As a man’s body is overtaken by aggravating illness, he loses his sense of perception and reasoning. Being a priest the poet then moves on to the topic of spiritual healing. The irony of physically strong man giving into an ailment is highly focused here. Felix goes through extreme suffering before he succumbs to death. During this time of suffering there is a mutual bond formed between the healer and the healed. A bond of trust and compassionate care is built. Through kindness and empathy, the priest is able to heal the sufferer’s soul, which in turn becomes the cause of the former’s salvation. The word “us” in the poem puts an emphasis on the mutuality of the bond.

‘My tongue had taught thee comfort; touch had quenched thy tears,

Thy tears that touched my heart, child, Felix, poor Felix Randal;’

Though the priest is not able to heal Randal physically, the former is able to provide the latter with a mental peace in his final moments in the deathbed. The death of his long-suffering companion left a deep imprint on the priest’s life as well. While comforting him, the priest too is able to find his path of salvation and internal peace. Both seek the Lord’s forgiveness and at the end, the farrier willingly accepts his fate and places his life in the hands of the Lord.

Critical Analysis of Felix Randal

Felix Randal is a Petrarchan or an Italian sonnet of romantic self-expression. Each line forms four self-contained statements. The speaker of the poem can be considered as a Roman Catholic priest who is dwelling upon the news of the death of Felix Randal.

The first quatrain deals with the news of the death of a blacksmith named Felix Randal. We can find an intense similarity between the lives of Randal and the poet himself. The first two stanzas are written in the form of an interior monologue, wherein the speaker’s thoughts are laid out loud in the form of a conscious recollection. The lines reflect on the realization dawned upon the speaker about the eventual end of dutiful visit to the sick Randal and witnessing his degradation from a rigorous individual to someone sick from four ailments. The recollections are sad until the line 9 which then gradually shifts to a personal cry of loss, offering an image of the dead mate enjoying the short prime years of his life.

Then the poet moves on to focus upon the speaker’s state of mind on looking after a sick person. The affectionate gratitude he receives and the fact that he is doing something worthwhile are the two reasons that keep him going. The priest fondly recollects the earlier years spent in vigor by the farrier which is so different from his situation during his sickness. There is a focus on the healing relationship between the priest and the sick person- how they intimately connect to one another and how the priest is able to spiritually connect to the ache of the sick.

Tone of Felix Randal- 

The poem is a fond as well as painful recollection of a dead person’s life by a priest who initially witnessed his prime years and then had to lend a helping hand during the suffering person’s last days. There is a gradual shift from a grim atmosphere to fond remembrance. There is a touch of internal peace attained and the solace the sufferer finds in such a situation as well as the mental liberation attained by the priest who attends him.

Central Idea of Felix Randal- 

The poem is all about the relation between a spiritual healer and the sufferer- how both complement one another in the act of attaining salvation. The knowledge of grotesque end fated for even the strong men is conveyed through the images of the fateful death of the farrier. The role of a healer in the life of a sufferer is stressed throughout as a long lasting companionship.

Conclusion- The individualistic poem Felix Randal is a representation of Romanticism through its theme, tone and feelings. The Victorian poetry can be categorized into a religious theme too. Hopkins tries to reveal truths through nature, which points at the usage of Pre-Raphaelitism effects in the poem. Spiritual healing is a two-way process unlike the way it is understood normally.  Through the characters of the priest and the farrier along with the images of their mutual understanding, one can clearly comprehend the meaning and effects of their bond in each other’s life. The acceptance of fate and wilfully giving into death allows a man’s soul to rest in the ultimate peace.

Analysis of Gerard Manley Hopkins-"Felix Randal"

 Later in life, however, Hopkins began to question his purpose in life, as he was often sick and his faith was “tested sorely” (773). His poetry became much more pensive as a result. “Felix Randal” is a transitional work; while it still has a Christian theme, the poem has a much more reflective and personal tone than his former works.

In fact, though the title is “Felix Randal”, the poem is just as much and perhaps even more about Hopkins’ ministry. Note that Hopkins’ reaction to the news that Felix is dead is neither sorrow nor joy but a comment that Hopkins own duty toward Felix is “all-ended” (line 1,776). He does not go on to speak of the good times in the man’s life, but rather how his greatness diminished. He describes how he has watched the physical decline of this man, “…his mould of man, big-boned and hardy handsome/pining, pining, till time when reason rambled in it and some/Fatal four disorders, fleshed there, all contended” (lines 2-4,776). Felix Randal was a “farrier” (line 1,776), a blacksmith. It is interesting that his decline suits his profession; he loses his shape like a piece of metal in the forge, becoming amorphous.

The second stanza concentrates on Felix as the object of Hopkins’ ministries. Hopkins gives Felix Extreme Unction, “Sickness broke him. Impatient he cursed at first, but mended/Being anointed and all ;…”( lines 5-6,776). Extreme Unction is the final sacrament in the Catholic Church, meant to prepare one’s soul to enter heaven. However, Felix’s attempt to skirt Hell began before the Anointing of the Sick near his deathbed, “though a heavenlier heart began some/Months earlier, since I had our sweet reprieve and ransom/Tendered to him” (lines 6-8,776). Notice that the emphasis is on the sacraments the man has received even more than the attitude change that has occurred. This is not a tale of a deathbed conversion. The focus is not on the dying man, but on Hopkins’ work with the man.

The next stanza is explicitly about Hopkins’ specific ministry to Felix. Hopkins describes the connection between the two of them, “This seeing the sick endears them to us, us too it endears./My tongue had taught thee comfort, touch had quenched thy tears,/Thy tears that touched my heart, child, Felix, poor Felix Randal” (lines 9-12,776). It is interesting that Hopkins portrays the relationship as reciprocal. Hopkins and Felix are both endeared to each other. Felix’s tears which he wipes away touch his heart. That a whole stanza is given to the mutual aspect of the relationship rather than just Hopkins’ one-sided ministry to the man is significant. Perhaps Hopkins was trying to console himself to the idea of ministry, that it was not a constant giving with nothing in return. He needed to know that his personal sufferings had a purpose. Not only that, he wanted his spiritual exercises, his writings, to be missionary. He longed for recognition and was “…preoccupied with his lack of an audience” (774).

The final stanza highlights the difference between the Felix Randal of life versus on his deathbed. In life, Felix Randal was a productive citizen, lively and “boisterous” (line 12,776). His work as a blacksmith garnered him respect, as he was “powerful amidst peers” (line 13,776). However, as he approached death, he seemed the exact opposite: weak, cursing, and unlikeable. Hopkins notes the distinct difference, “How far from then forethought of, all thy more boisterous years” (line 12,776). It is possible that this illustration of a distinct difference in personality and form between youth and old age had its roots in Hopkins’ own disenchantment with his vocation. His later years found him frustrated with a sense of “poetic infertility” (774). In addition, his ministries were tiring, as he later noted, “It made even life a burden to me” (773).

Maybe “Felix Randal” should really be titled “Gerard Manley Hopkins”, as Hopkins seems to have as much trouble reconciling himself to his life as Felix has to his deathbed. Hopkins, like Felix the blacksmith, created much in his early years, but later was overwhelmed by a sense of thwarted purpose. Indeed, the poem focuses more on Hopkins’ reactions and musings on Felix Randal than on Felix Randal himself