"The Windhover" is a sonnet written in 1887 by the English poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins, dedicated to "Christ our Lord." In the poem, the speaker recounts the awe-inspiring sight of a kestrel (a.k.a, a "windhover") soaring through the air in search of prey. The speaker is deeply moved by the bird's aerial skill—its ability to both hover in stillness and swoop down with speed—and sees the bird as an expression of the beauty and majesty of God's creation. The poem's octet (the first eight lines) concentrates primarily on the bird, while the sestet—the second and final section of the poem—discusses the creature in a wider religious context. The speaker ultimately stresses that such beauty is in fact "no wonder," because all of God's creation is divinely beautiful.
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The Full Text of “The Windhover”
To Christ our Lord
1I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
2 dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
3 Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
4High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
5In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
6 As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
7 Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
8Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!
9Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
10 Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
11Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
12 No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
13Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
14 Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
The Full Text of “The Windhover”
To Christ our Lord
1I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
2 dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
3 Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
4High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
5In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
6 As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
7 Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
8Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!
9Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
10 Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
11Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
12 No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
13Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
14 Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
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“The Windhover” Summary
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“The Windhover” Themes
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The Majesty of God and Nature
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Windhover”
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Lines 1-2
I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, -
Lines 2-5
in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! -
Lines 5-7
then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. -
Lines 7-8
My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing! -
Lines 9-10
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! -
Lines 10-11
AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier! -
Lines 12-14
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
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“The Windhover” Symbols
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The Windhover
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Soil
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Fire
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“The Windhover” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Apostrophe
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Caesura
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Consonance
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Enjambment
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Metaphor
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Repetition
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Simile
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“The Windhover” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Minion
- Dauphin
- Dapple
- Riding
- Rung upon the rein
- Wimpling
- Ecstasy
- Hurl
- Rebuffed
- Valour
- Buckle
- Thee
- Chevalier
- Shéer Plód
- Plough
- Sillion
- Blue-black embers
- Gall themselves
- Gash
- Gold-vermilion
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Windhover”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Windhover” Speaker
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“The Windhover” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Windhover”
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More “The Windhover” Resources
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External Resources
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Hovering Kestrels — Learn more about kestrels and how, exactly, they hover in the wind.
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More Poems by Hopkins — A valuable resource from the Poetry Foundation.
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A Deep Dive Into Sprung Rhythm — An in-depth look at Hopkins's metrical innovations.
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The Poem in Song — "The Windhover" set to music (alongside other bird poems).
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Hopkins's Life and Work — An informative BBC Radio documentary discussion about the poet.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins
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