FELIX RANDALL.
A poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
English 19th Century poet, Jesuit, and parish priest to Felix, the blacksmith.
Felix Randall the farrier, O he is dead then? My duty all ended,
Who have watched his mould of man, big boned and hardy handsome
Pining, pining, til time when reason rambled in it and some fatal four disorders
Fleshed there, all contended?
Sickness broke him, impatient he cursed at first, but mended [tolerated]
Being anointed and all; though a heavenlier heart began some
Months earlier, since I had our sweet reprieve and ransom [Confession, Communion, etc]
Tendered to him. Ah well, God rest him all road ever he offended.
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 Randall;
How far from forethought of, all thy more boisterous years,
When thou at the random grim forge, powerful amidst peers,
Did fettle for the great grey drayhorse, his bright and battering sandal!
END
What a splendid, valedictory poem, what a glorious send off.
I have included in brackets [ ] a couple of notes which might make comprehension easier. Hopkins is Randall’s confessor and notes how the dying blacksmith appears greatly comforted by both his presence and the fact that he has confessed and received the sacraments. And Hopkins obviously loves him.
‘Thy tears that touched my heart…’ How can you not be moved by Hopkin’s care, both as a man and as a priest?