Felix Randal by Gerard Manley Hopkins is a sonnet written in 1880 about the titular character’s death. The poem reads like a eulogy and is an elegy both lamenting his death but also celebrating his life. Inspired by the real-life death of Felix Spencer, the emotions elucidated through the poem are of immense profundity, illustrating the transcience of life and the sense of comfort that religion provides. It is a poignant and introspective poem that delves into the themes of mortality, suffering, and the enduring power of faith. It showcases Hopkins’ unique poetic style, characterized by rich imagery, vivid language, and complex rhythms, which make it a significant contribution to Victorian poetry.
Felix Randal | Summary and Analysis
Lines 1-4
Felix Randal the farrier, O is he dead then? my duty all ended,
Who has watched his mold of man, big-boned and hardy-handsome
Pining, pining, till the time when reason rambled in it, and some
Fatal four disorders, fleshed there, all contended?
The narrator, a priest, mourns and asks if Felix Randal, his longtime parishioner of himself is dead. He asks if the disease that he was afflicted with has finally taken him. It has been suggested that the poem is based on the real-life Felix Spencer who was afflicted with tuberculosis and died at 31, while the narrator is Hopkins himself. The lines are the starting point of the poet’s reflections on their pries-parishioner relationship and how religion becomes a comfort to the dying, especially the ones dying young.
Felix Randal | Analysis, Lines 5-10
Sickness broke him. Impatient, he cursed at first but mended
Being anointed and all; though a heavenlier heart began some
Months earlier, since I had our sweet reprieve and ransom
Tendered to him. Ah well, God rest him all road ever he offended!
The narrator now talks about his initiation into his Faith; while Felix was ‘broken’ by his sickness, his impatience was done away with when the narrator “anointed” him, that is, initiated him into religion. He was interested in Faith since much before his anointment because of his relationship with the narrator. It is clear that while Randal had been sick of his bodily reality, the priest helped him look beyond the limitations of his mortal existence and develop a “heavenlier” heart. Their relationship was not one of strict professionalism, but also profound admiration and love. His death affects the priest personally as well as professionally. The poem implies the speaker’s spiritual and tangible comfort that he gives Felix, which helps him improve his final days and live them out peacefully while being sick in his body.
Felix Randal | Analysis, Lines 11-16
This seeing the sick endears them to us, us too it endears.
My tongue had taught thee comfort, touch had quenched thy tears,
Thy tears that touched my heart, child, Felix, poor Felix Randal;
How far from then forethought of, all thy more boisterous years,
When thou at the random grim forge, powerful amidst peers,
Didst fettle for the great grey drayhorse his bright and battering sandal!
The narrator continues that seeing the sick “endears them”, and makes one love them even more. Felix’s tears move the narrator deeply, and he is greatly affected by his death. He says that one cannot imagine that Felix, who was once boisterous in youth, respected by everyone, and worked so hard at his farrier’s workshop is now no more. The poem is a profound elegy that reads like a eulogy written as a sonnet. It laments his untimely death and also celebrates his life.
About the Author
Gerard Manley Hopkins was born in 1844 and was an English poet and Jesuit priest whose work was only posthumously published in 1918. His poetry employs entirely Anglo-Saxon vocabulary and he influenced many major twentieth-century poets. He wrote some of the most original sonnets with their employment of rhythm and richness of language. The Windhover is one of his most famous poems.
Felix Randal by Gerard Manley Hopkins explores profound themes of mortality, suffering, and the power of Faith to help the dying in gaining fortitude. Hopkins describes Randal’s physical deterioration due to bodily illness, but in the second part of the poem, he describes at length the spiritual journey that helps him in his journey to the other world. Hopkins explores the transformative power of Faith and how it helps the ordinary man find spiritual strength through religious beliefs.
