Stanza Explanation on the Non-African Poetry - SS2 Literature Lesson Note

Stanza 1:
```
My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,
Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,
All felled, felled, are all felled;
Of a fresh and following folded rank
Not spared, not one
```
In the first stanza, the poet addresses the poplar trees ("aspens dear") and laments their loss. The trees' "airy cages" once provided shade, and they held the sun in check with their leaves. However, all the trees have been cut down ("felled, felled, are all felled") in a systematic manner. The poet describes the fallen trees as a "folded rank," emphasizing that not a single tree was spared.

Stanza 2:
```
That dandled a sandalled
Shadow that swam or sank
On meadow and river and wind-wandering
weed-winding bank.
```
In this stanza, the poet reminisces about the shadow cast by the poplar trees, which would sway or "swim" on the meadow and riverbanks, creating a soothing and gentle presence in the landscape.

Stanza 3:

```
O if we but knew what we do
When we delve or hew—
Hack and rack the growing green!
Since country is so tender
To touch, her being so slender,
That, like this sleek and seeing ball
But a prick will make no eye at all,
Where we, even where we mean
To mend her we end her,
When we hew or delve:
After-comers cannot guess the beauty been.
```
In this stanza, the poet reflects on the ignorance of human actions. He suggests that if people truly understood the impact of their actions when they cut down or damage nature ("delve or hew"), they would be more careful. The metaphor of the Earth being "so tender" and "slender" emphasizes its fragility. When we harm the land ("hack and rack the growing green"), we are, in fact, causing irreparable damage. The poet warns that future generations will never fully comprehend the beauty that has been lost due to our actions.

Stanza 4:
```
Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve
Strokes of havoc unselve
The sweet especial scene,
Rural scene, a rural scene,
Sweet especial rural scene.
```
In this stanza, the poet quantifies the extent of destruction caused by just "ten or twelve" strokes. These few actions can unravel the beauty of the rural scene, emphasizing how easily nature can be marred by human intervention.

Stanza 5:
```
Nature, hard, is at hand with me;
Golden handfuls of the ground
She thrusts before me, I now recline
Could down, to finger it. With quick
Of gold-vermillion it waxes grossly rich
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
```
In the final stanza, the poet reflects on the resilience and beauty of nature. Despite the destruction wrought by humans, nature remains close and resilient. The poet touches the ground and feels the earth's richness and vitality. He observes how nature is full of contrasts ("swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim") but ultimately praises the Creator ("He fathers-forth") whose beauty in nature is unchanging. This final stanza provides a sense of hope and praise for the enduring beauty of the natural world.

Overall, "Binsey Poplars" by Gerard Manley Hopkins expresses the poet's deep lament for the destruction of poplar trees, highlighting themes of nature, loss, and the consequences of human actions.