Gerard Manley Hopkins

Gerard Manley Hopkins was born at Stratford, Essex, England, on July 28, 1844 (poets.org). He was the oldest of eight children and was born into a prosperous Middle-class family (Bowler 856). He was physically weak and revealed an ascetic tendency, a strong desire to holdback his passionate and egotistic spirit (Byers 492).
Family
His father was Manley Hopkins, a successful marine insurance agent who wrote poetry and technical books. Most of his family members were artistic in some way. For example, two of his brothers became professional artists. Hopkins’ own papers contained sketches, which also showed his talent as an artist. Also, his youngest sister Grace was an accomplished musician (Magill 1600).
Education
While in grammar school, he began to write his own poetry and also began to show his gift (Bowler 856). Hopkins attended Highgate School, where he stood out as a gifted student and began to write Keatsian style poetry (Byers 492). Later on in life, Hopkins...