"The Windhover" is a sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889). It was written on 30 May 1877, but not published until 1914, when it was included as part of the collection ''Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins''. Hopkins dedicated the poem "To

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

our Lord". "Windhover" is another name for the

common kestrel The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where n ...

(''Falco tinnunculus''). The name refers to the bird's ability to hover in midair while hunting

prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

. In the poem, the narrator admires the bird as it hovers in the air, suggesting that it controls the wind as a man may control a horse. The bird then suddenly swoops downwards and "rebuffed the big wind". The bird can be viewed as a metaphor for Christ or of divine

epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

. Hopkins called "The Windhover" "the best thing eever wrote".
Poems and Prose of Gerard Manley Hopkins
'. It commonly appears in anthologies and has lent itself to many interpretations. It was recited by the title character in the Simpson's episode

Diggs (The Simpsons) "Diggs" is the twelfth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and the 542nd episode of the series. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on March 9, 2014. The episode was writt ...

"Diggs"

References

External links

*
"The Windhover" study guide
* (multiple versions) Poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins 1877 poems Victorian poetry {{poem-stub