Hopkins is now regarded as one of the most important 19th century poets in the English language, but in his own time, the theologian remained largely unpublished. Part of this neglect was the nature of Hopkins’s poems: though the poems are about familiar themes like nature, mortality, and religion, stylistically they are radically different from the conventions of Victorian poetry. A visionary and innovator, Hopkins wrote in his poems not just new words and phrases, he also experimented with syntax, rhythm, and meter. Behind these formal experiments was Hopkins’s belief that form and subject are one. The form of a poem creates meaning, rather than just be its vehicle. This can be seen in “Spring and Fall,” where Hopkins’s careful use of words like “unleaving,” “goldengrove,” “wanwood,” and more creates layers of semantic associations.

Another literary innovation for which Hopkins is known is “sprung rhythm” (for a greater explanation, refer to the “Form, meter, and rhyme” under the “Literary Devices” section of this guide). “Sprung rhythm” is Hopkins’s attempt to incorporate the rhythms of Welsh poetry and oral speech into English. In this system, each metrical foot begins with a stressed syllable.