The Layers of Sound in Poetry and Sprung Rhythm in the Poetic Works of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Abstract

This article explores the sound-forming qualities in poetry as well as the processes which enable the poetic sound to form and create the metaphysical and aesthetic laws within a poetic and, more generally, literary work of art. The first part of the paper focuses on the stratum of word sounds in the literary work of art as it was theoretically shaped into being by Roman Ingarden in his work The Literary Work of Art. In the context of the analysis of Ingarden’s work, the focus is primarily on the stratum of word sounds, the concept of concretization, and the interdependence of sound material and sense. In the second part, the paper shifts its attention, in light of Ingarden’s conclusions, to the English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and to the exploration of the prosodic laws regnant in his poetry. In Hopkins’ poetic works, the poet’s invention and use of the sprung rhythm which deviates from the traditional arrangements and understandings of metrics amply demonstrate the inter-connectedness between sound and meaning. Likewise, in Hopkins’ work alliteration plays as important a role as sprung rhythm, for like sprung rhythm it personifies the sound-forming and semantic essence of his poetic works.