Amazon.com description: Product Description: Gerard Manley Hopkins's verse contains the unique paradox of a poet-priest who wanted to evoke the spiritual essence of nature sensuously, and to communicate this revelation using innovative technique and natural language. This collection gives voice to his feelings of intense spiritual longing. Through his exceptional ability as a writer, Hopkins created tuneless expressions of the eternal religious expressions that will find resonance with contemporary spiritual seekers. Longing and faith -- both constant elements of spirituality -- are here so exquisitely expressed as to give this collection great meaning for today. Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) was a Jesuit priest and poet. Although his body of work is small, he ranks high among English poets and was extremely influential on twentieth-century poetry.