“Hack and Rack the Growing Green”

Gerard Manley Hopkins’s environmental concerns are not only ecological but also “ecotheological” in that he addresses both the relation of organisms to one another and their connection to divinity. Ecotheology (creation-centered approaches to theology) differs from ecocriticism (literary criticism centered on environmental awareness), and there is a tradition of ecotheological thought within Catholicism, ranging from St. Francis of Assisi to Gerard Manley Hopkins to Pope Francis. In poems like “Binsey Poplars,” “As kingfishers catch fire,” and “God’s Grandeur,” Hopkins’s Christian symbolism and ecotheological themes demonstrate that, for him, nature’s importance stems from its sacredness. These Hopkinsian strands are picked up by three contemporary poets—Denise Levertov, Pattiann Rogers, and Martha Silano—who, though not as orthodox as Hopkins in their religious views, nevertheless share his ecotheological impulses. These writers represent, together with their Jesuit predecessor, “a particular poetic community” that, like the God of Genesis, sees an inherent goodness and value in creation. These contemporary poets are examples of the many writers who have echoed Hopkins’s ecotheological concerns.