Peace

Hopkins’s work is a lyric poem, as it conveys the intimate thoughts and feelings of the speaker. It also contains an apostrophe, since the speaker addresses an intangible, non-sentient entity in the first line. The first-person speaker begins by asking “Peace” (Line 1) a question, equating their subject of “Peace” (Line 1) with a “wild wooddove” (Line 1). Peace typically carries positive connotations with it, drawing up associations with tranquility, harmony, calmness, and a lack of war that is rather supplanted by reigning order. Doves repeatedly appear in the Bible and in other religious texts as a symbolic representation of peace, so in the Judeo-Christian tradition, images of doves have come to convey innocence and purity, and are often the embodiment of the Holy Spirit in paintings. Doves are characterized by their pigeon-like appearance and the calm, cooing sounds they make. Yet, while the image of the dove represents something desirable for the speaker, it is likewise unattainable and elusive. The “wooddove” (Line 1) is described as “wild” (Line 1), meaning that it cannot be caught, possessed, or tamed. It can fly away and escape at any time and in any direction.