Happy Easter!

Gerard Manley Hopkins has grown to be my favorite poet. But one of his greatest attractions as a poet, his use of conversational speech rhythms in contrast to the heavier, more predictable rhythms rightly expected in more traditional verse forms, brings out the beauty of language in a rare fashion that stands on its own. I would have thought, given time to reflect on it, that the one thing lacking in Hopkins' style (or I should say an exclusivity, rather than a lack) is that you cannot sing his works in a believable fashion. Any attempt to impose a strict musical rhythm over such verses would be bound to sound quite contrived. But last week the Irish sean-nós singer Lorcán Mac Mathúna posted this video, proving that there is at least one musical style which commits no such transgression, and only adds delight to delight: