The Windhover

For centuries before Hopkins’s birth, the Reformation brought about tremendous upheaval to religious life in Europe. The Reformation signaled a break from the near-complete domination of the Catholic Church in Europe for centuries. In the 16th century, the Reformation made its way to England with the formation of the Church of England, a Protestant church opposed to the Catholics. This split eventually led to the banning of Catholicism in England that lasted until 1829.

Hopkins’s conversion not only to Catholicism but to the Jesuits, who made up an extremely devout branch of the Catholic Church, was a radical move in the mid-19th century. His conversion severed his ties to his family and led to him living an estranged life. By becoming Catholic, he risked his reputation, his career, and his social status, and by becoming a Jesuit he went down a path of complete religious devotion that would ultimately lead to an inner conflict about the role of poetry in his life. This conflict is reflected in the poem when read with a biographical lens.