Felix Randal Essay Questions

What effect does Felix Randal's death have upon the speaker?

The speaker of this poem is a priest, and he narrates how he lost Felix Randal, a young member of his church. The poem is based on a true story; one of Hopkins' parishioners, Felix Spencer, a farrier, succumbed to tuberculosis while he was under Hopkins' spiritual care. The speaker asks himself how God could allow a young man to suffer and die a painful death. This death, however, causes the speaker to appreciate the fact that sickness brings the sick and the healthy closer together, and that through his closeness to Felix, the speaker was able to draw Felix closer to God. The speaker's tone is heavy but more resigned than anguished; the buildup of sounds in this poem ("great grey dreyhorse"; scattered words such as "random," "Randal," "ransom," rambled," and "Sandal," or "forge," "forethought," "far," and "farrier") reflect the emotions that well up in the speaker.

What are the two main themes in "Felix Randal"?

In this poem, bereavement and religious conviction emerge as the two major themes. Felix suffers and dies at a young age, but the priest is hopeful that he is with God, that he found peace in God before his untimely death. This hopefulness keeps negative emotions from overwhelming the speaker, but it does not completely stem his grief over the young man; he merely finds comfort in his knowledge of God, just as Felix hopefully found comfort in his presence and the conduit to God that their relationship created. God's immanence provides an explanation of sorts to the inexplicable and unfair circumstances humans encounter, such as Felix's death as a young and promising man.

How do rhyme and form work in this poem?

This poem is a Petrarchan sonnet, which means it is split into an octave (the first two four-line stanzas) and a sestet (the final two three-line stanzas). The poem also follows the rhyme scheme of a Petrarchan sonnet, diverting from the Shakespearean tradition of sonnets with "ABAB CDCD EFEF GG" rhyme schemes; the octave follows the rhyme scheme "ABBA ABBA," then the sestet follows the rhyme scheme "CCD CCD." This rhyme scheme is a little more subtle when read out loud than the Shakespearean sonnet, but it also returns to the same rhymes more than the Shakespearean sonnet does, giving the poem a foundation to which it repeatedly returns.

The final rhyme of "Randal" and "sandal" gives Randal's name particular resonance and emphasis, and the final image of the horse's "bright and battering sandal" (or hoof) calls attention away from the image of the sick, dying man and toward Randal's craft, his former brilliance, and the fruits of his labor.