1. ‘Pied’ means having two or more colours or having irregular, interesting patterns coloured, multi-textured and multi-patterned?
2. What do you expect a poem called ‘Pied Beauty’ to be celebrating?
3. The sky is often full of colour, especially at sunrise and sunset. Describe the most colourful sky you have ever seen.
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING 1. Who do you think Hopkins is writing this poem for? Explain your answer.
2. What do you think Hopkins means with his comparison in line two: ‘For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow’. Explain your answer.
3. What image of the landscape do you form, having read lines 5–6? Refer to these lines to support your answer.
4. Explain the following line in your own words and say what point Hopkins was making with it: ‘With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim’.
5. What do you think Hopkins means when he says ‘He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change’? Explain your answer.
6. Do you think this sonnet is successful in praising God? Give reasons for your answer.
7. What, in your opinion, is the main theme of the poem? 8. Compare ‘Pied Beauty’ to another Hopkins poem that explores the same theme.
CREATING
1. Write a speech proposing or opposing the following motion: ‘Humanity’s inventions are far superior to anything that is naturally formed.’
2. Write an article for a national newspaper about the importance of celebrating diversity in Irish society.
3. Write a personal essay about the things that make you different from anyone else.