"Inversnaid" Key

Please do not be daunted by Hopkins' word choices! Many he created for the sheer joy of combining sounds and sense. You won't find "rollrock," for instance, in the dictionary, but you can delight in its feel on your tongue as you imagine the swirl of water around streambed stones. Read the poem aloud for sheer joy, and the meanings may pour through more than you expect. If you need a boost, here are a few of the less familiar words:

* burn = stream

* coop = hollow

* comb = crest

* twindles = Hopkins' own invention: The Norton Anthology of English Literature suggests a blend of "twists" and "dwindles"

* degged = sprinkled

* braes = hills

* flitches = clumps

(return to poem)