Victorian poet and Jesuit priest known for his poetic experimentation with rhythm and imagery. His poems include "Pied Beauty," "The May Magnificat," "As Kingfishers Catch Fire," and "The Caged Skylark."
He was the oldest of nine children born to Catherine and Manley Hopkins.
His poetry frequently contains a metrical innovation known as "sprung rhythm."
He never married, but he wrote many letters over the years to a close male friend named Digby Mackworth Dolben.
He lived in John Keats' hometown of Hampstead for a portion of his youth. While a student at Highgate School, he was inspired to write poetry after reading Keats' work.
