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The Collected Works of Gerard Manley Hopkins Vols I-II: Correspondence
edited by R.K.R. Thorton and Catherine Phillips.
Oxford, 1184 pp., £175, March 2013, 978 0 19 965370 6
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Writing in 1920 to Gerard Manley Hopkins’s sister Kate, the poet Robert Bridges, who had seen Hopkins’s poems through the press in 1918 (almost thirty years after Hopkins’s death), ventured a prophecy: ‘I think it very probable that his letters will some day be printed … It is possible enough that if I should live to be very very old I might myself edit the letters.’

At the time, Bridges was 76, and not in good health. The letters had to wait until 1935 to see partial publication. Later, in the 1950s, Claude Colleer Abbott published revised editions of separate correspondences (to Bridges and to the Reverend Richard Watson Dixon), followed by the miscellaneous Further Letters, filling out the picture of Hopkins as son, brother and priest. The letters immensely improved the understanding of Hopkins’s life and work, but the editor assumed a readership of educated English scholars. The 499 extant letters by Hopkins, magnificently re-edited, have now been issued in the Oxford series of Hopkins’s Collected Works that will run, when complete, to eight volumes: the two-volume Correspondence; Diaries, Journals and Notebooks; Oxford Essays and Notes; Sermons and Spiritual Writings; Sketches, Notes and Studies; The Dublin Notebook; and finally, the Poems. The energetic and exhaustive notes and the biographical register of Hopkins’s correspondents offer constant illumination.

Oxford’s new presentation of the correspondence (including 43 letters, none remarkable, that have come to light since the earlier edition) differs in two striking ways from the volumes of the 1950s. All the correspondences have been merged into one lifelong chronological sequence, and – in a felicitous addition – all known letters to Hopkins from his correspondents are inserted (in a different typeface) as they were received. A marked narrative of intellectual and personal engagement arises as one letter follows another, and as the correspondences with poets come and go like eddies in the flow of mail. The edition also adds, in an appendix, the letters written to Hopkins’s parents after their son’s unexpected and premature death in Dublin from typhoid at the age of 44. I quote the most intimate one, written to Hopkins’s mother by a close friend at Oxford, Alexander Baillie:

I cannot express to you how grieved I was to learn [of] the death of my dear friend … It is impossible to say how much I owe to him. He is the one figure which fills my whole memory of my Oxford life … All my intellectual growth, and a very large proportion of the happiness of those Oxford days, I owe to his companionship … Apart from my own nearest relations, I never had so strong an affection for any one.

Other friends expressed equal grief, feeling that they had lost the most unusual person they had known.

Hopkins was known as Gerard to his family and friends (Bridges inserted ‘Manley’ on the title page of the Poems to differentiate the poet from his nephew, the writer Gerard Hopkins). Born in 1844 as the eldest of nine children to a well-off Anglican family, he grew up surrounded by music and art: his father was a marine adjuster who wrote a book about shipwrecks (as well as a book of poems). Hopkins went up to Balliol to do Greats, but was caught up in the wake of the Oxford Movement, and, following in Newman’s footsteps, converted to Catholicism. This prompted the most painful exchange in the letters: Hopkins makes a stiff and formal announcement to his father that he is confirmed in his desire to convert, and his parents, in turn, write back in a manner that is both bewildered and stiff; the letter is worded as from his father but the extant draft is in his mother’s hand. It begins with logical argument against his conversion, but ends with a mother’s outcry:

All we ask of you is for your own sake to take so momentous a step with caution and hesitation: have we not a right to do this? Might not our love & sorrow entitle us to ask it? & you answer by saying that as we might be Romanists if we pleased the estrangement is not of your doing. O Gerard my darling boy are you indeed gone from me?

This decision to convert – probably opaque at the time to Hopkins himself – determined the rest of his life: he became a Jesuit, did badly in his third-year exam in dogmatic theology, was not chosen to stay on for a fourth year, and was ordained at a lower level than some fellow ordinands (he was a Spiritual Coadjutor rather than a Professed Father). He was unable to rise higher in the order thanks to this judgment on his suitability. His subsequent posts were only occasionally successful, and his last – which entailed marking hundreds of national exams twice a year and teaching classics at Newman’s new university in Dublin – uprooted him from England. During his time as a Jesuit, letters were his chief means of contact with the intellectual and literary world.

These letters present, as the editors say in their introduction, ‘the priest, the poet, the playful friend, the dutiful critic, the observer of the beauties of the world, the speculative thinker, the experimenter, the linguist, the master of prosody, the anguished self-analyst and the loving man’. I would add to this list the fastidious aesthete (seen especially in his remarks on the use and misuse of language and in his corrections of others’ verse) and the intemperate dogmatist, seen in his nearly deranged letter of 21 August 1885 to Coventry Patmore about Sponsa Dei, a long poem of Patmore’s depicting the relation of man to God by analogy with the marital relation of woman to man. Beginning with the generalisation that ‘anything however high and innocent may happen to suggest anything however low and loathsome,’ Hopkins goes on to interpret the poem as a possible incitement to masturbation, saying that ‘acts of unnatural vice’ were portrayed by a heretical priest and ‘a congregation of nuns somewhere in Italy’, as ‘acts of divine union’ (adding that such practices ‘appear widely in the Brahmanic mystic literature’). ‘I am sorry to disgust you with these horrors,’ he adds, ‘but such is man and such is Satanic craft.’ In his 1992 biography of Hopkins Norman White characterises this letter as ‘a gentle warning’, but like many others, he tends to protect his subject. Hopkins arouses affection in his readers.

I first encountered Hopkins in the 1944 Eleanor Ruggles biography, borrowed by my mother from the local library. My youthful reading had stopped at Tennyson, and I was astonished by Hopkins. I bought the poems and found them effortlessly inserting themselves into my memory. Although I had been raised a Roman Catholic, it was not Hopkins’s Catholicism that captured my interest; it was that ‘new rhythm’ that he ‘long had haunting [his] ear’ which drew me into its vortex as it had drawn and driven the poet himself. Of course I had found the early poems of his twenties, Oxford sonnets and religious poems alike, beautiful, recognisably traditional and regular in form and rhyme:

Elected silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.

Shape nothing, lips; be lovely-dumb;
It is the shut, the curfew sent
From there where all surrenders come
Which only makes you eloquent.

But what buoyed me up and carried me along, in my first acquaintance with Hopkins’s work, was the extravagance of ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’, in which his ‘new rhythm’ beat irresistibly in a stanza both irregular and propulsive:

    For how to the heart’s cheering
    The down-dugged ground-hugged grey
Hovers off, the jay-blue heavens appearing
    Of pied and peeled May!
Blue-beating and hoary-glow height; or night, still higher,
With belled fire and the moth-soft milky way,
    What by your measure is the heaven of desire,
The treasure never eyesight got, nor was ever guessed what for the hearing?

After reading the poems I went to the poet’s correspondence, and met another Hopkins, attractive in his successive enthusiasms and his incorruptible honesty, but immensely strange in his intransigent literary morals. In his late thirties, for instance, he excoriated the witty Beatrice of Much Ado about Nothing: ‘It is the same in literature as in life: the vain women in Shakspere are the impure minded too, like Beatrice (I do not know that I may not call her a hideous character).’ His own sexual anxieties (then unknown to me) made him intolerant of the erotic freedom of literature, even when it was Shakespeare he was rebuking. I read the letters eagerly, but with the very imperfect understanding of an inexperienced American unaware of 19th-century customs and controversies, not to speak of English and Irish politics.

In letters, Hopkins always spoke his mind with trenchancy and purpose, even to the point of endangering his ties to his correspondents. His enlivening wit sprang frequently from the pages, as did his sardonic commentary on aspects of Victorian language and culture. To watch him develop from a rather priggish Oxford undergraduate to a man of troubling sorrow and (in his own words) ‘helpless self-loathing’ was to be educated in a process I was then too young to understand fully. The letters delighted me by their revelation of what Hopkins’s prose could become when it was relatively untrammelled (his sermons, never uninteresting, were nonetheless constrained by their double obligation to dogma and to homiletic intention).

Hopkins’s unstoppable drive to write had free rein until he joined the Jesuit order and decided (on his own) that his vocation was incompatible with the writing of poetry. His private moratorium on poetic composition ended when his religious superior suggested in 1875 that someone ought to commemorate the five German nuns (fleeing Bismarck’s dissolution of the religious orders) who had drowned off the coast of Kent in the Deutschland. A dam broke with Hopkins’s composition of the poem (which undoubtedly sprang at least in part from his father’s book on shipwrecks). During the preceding years of poetic silence, letter-writing had become Hopkins’s chief – and sometimes sole – outlet of creative expression, and it continued strongly, especially in dry periods, even after his resumption of poetry. Since his conversion from the family’s Anglicanism had caused a never entirely repaired breach (none of his family attended his ordination), Hopkins released his thoughts and poems more freely to friends and fellow poets such as Bridges (although he did enclose some poems in letters to his mother).

As time went on, Bridges became an overworked physician, a married man with children (and the usual family cares), and, when he developed lung disease, a patient himself. He nonetheless responded always to Hopkins’s letters and poems, keeping the manuscripts safe until he undertook their posthumous publication. He took his guardianship seriously, planning to create a reputation for the unknown poet by gradual publication in anthologies or journals before publishing a collection. Early enthusiasts included Empson and I.A. Richards; and Hopkins was for a time placed among ‘modern’ poets rather than Victorian ones. The letters (and much recent scholarship, together with the new edition of the Oxford Essays) fix him firmly in Victorian philosophical, visual and scientific contexts, whereas early discussions had been more often preoccupied with his religious beliefs and his prosody. Elsie Phare’s wonderfully intuitive short book on Hopkins, published in 1933, brought Hopkins criticism to a new level. And in 1948 William Peters, a Dutch Jesuit, did a linguistic analysis of the poetry that has not been bettered. From the 1940s on, Hopkins criticism thrived.

The subjects that interested Hopkins were chiefly intellectual ones; even his most sensuous responses to the natural world were immediately referred to the intellect, which, in the poetry, meant referral to philosophical or theological thought. Although it has seemed regrettable to some readers that Hopkins grafted religious sestets onto octaves of natural beauty, it must be acknowledged that if he had led a different life, his penetrating sense-perceptions would even so have had to be presented to, and mediated by, his intellectual preoccupations (which, in that alternative life, might have been philosophical rather than religious). In any case, the two aspects – the senses and the intellect – would still have had to struggle into stand-offs, reconciliations, suspensions – the very things that happen in the religious poems.

The overwhelming elation Hopkins felt in the presence of natural phenomena (and his consequent grief at the destruction of natural beauty) could not exist unaffected by second-order reflection. Sometimes, as in the exquisite ‘Moonrise, June 19, 1876’, a natural scene did escape the grasp of explicit intellectual scrutiny. Waking in Wales, near dawn, the poet sees the rise of a waning moon, and because it is an hour in which nothing in the way of work or liturgical practice is expected of him, he can see ‘innocently’, without scruples or anxiety, can feel natural beauty presented ‘so easily’. It is a scene that could easily have been allegorised (the source of light entangled with darkness), but in his half-awake state Hopkins can experience it as pure joy:

I awoke in the Midsummer not-to-call night, | in the white and the walk of the morning:
The moon, dwindled and thinned to the fringe | of a fingernail held to the candle,
Or paring of paradisaïcal fruit,| lovely in waning but lustreless,
Stepped from the stool, drew back from the barrow, | of dark Maenefa the mountain;
A cusp still clasped him, a fluke yet fanged him,| entangled him, not quit utterly.
This was the prized, the desirable sight, | unsought, presented so easily,
Parted me leaf and leaf, divided me, | eyelid and eyelid of slumber.

This unusual poem – of seven lines with seven beats each (a symbol of perfect order) – has a midline ‘rest’ (marked by Hopkins) after the fourth beat, and cadences which end always in ‘feminine’ rhymes. The slow and serene rhythm (‘presented so easily’) in no way resembles the atmosphere excited at more anxious moments by the presence of the external world – ‘Look at the stars! look, look up at the skies!’ With the arrival of the intellect, the stars must be placed in the visual world of Christian iconography, becoming a ‘piece-bright paling’ enclosing ‘Christ and his mother and all his hallows’.

Moments of peace such as ‘Moonrise’ were not frequent, and the letters reveal increasing depression (diagnoses after the fact have mentioned unipolar depression and bipolar illness). Hopkins was fully aware of his tormented state. Apologising to Baillie for a late reply to a letter, he writes: ‘This is part of my disease, so to call it’:

The melancholy I have all my life been subject to has become of late years not indeed more intense in its fits but rather more distributed, constant and crippling. One, the lightest but a very inconvenient form of it, is daily anxiety about work to be done, which makes me break off or never finish all that lies outside that work … when I am at the worst, though my judgment is never affected, my state is much like madness.

One suspects that no matter what adult life he had chosen, Hopkins would not have been spared such psychological suffering.

After the issuing of the poems, the Jesuits hastened to write about Hopkins in somewhat defensive ways (they feared, Bridges said, what the opening of Hopkins to the public eye might reveal – without specifying what that might be). The publication of Hopkins’s youthful confession notes at Oxford (scratched over by him but made visible by technical scrutiny) and his recorded attraction then and later to male bodies made it inevitable that he would be perceived as homosexual in sensibility and inclination. (No one has ever doubted his lifelong celibacy.) The publication of his grim retreat notes provoked responses accusing the Jesuits of not recognising his gifts, of putting him in unsuitable postings and so on. By now, most of these position-takings have waned, but it is still thought – judging by the poems most often anthologised – that he is primarily a ‘nature poet’ and a ‘religious poet’. It is true he cared very much for the urgent sentiments expressed in the poems, but if one chooses to characterise him by manner rather than by subject matter, he belongs among the poets of extremes: Blake, Shelley, Hart Crane. In Hopkins, we find embodied the highest euphoria and the wildest despair, from ‘Hurrahing in Harvest’ to ‘Spelt from Sibyl’s Leaves’, both extremes finding eloquent expression.

For all his ecstatic wonder, Hopkins is by no means an untutored child of the earth. In fact, he is an exceptionally interesting example of the intersection of four very strong influences: visual impressions, compulsive verse-writing, classical higher education and Roman Catholicism (superimposed on his residual family Anglicanism). He came to adulthood in the throes of the Oxford Movement, and nothing seemed of more consequence to him and his closest friends – as the youthful letters demonstrate – than the choice between England and Rome. Newman had already ‘gone over’ to Rome and become a priest; the new converts who were persuaded in part by his example – Hopkins was one – urged conversion on their friends with emphatic insistence. To his Balliol friend Edward William Urquhart, already an Anglican priest, the 22-year-old Hopkins wrote in almost peremptory terms: ‘I have been for about two months a convert to the Church of Christ and am hoping to be received early in next term: I most earnestly hope you will delay no longer… . I am hoping for your conversion and expecting it and of course I do not omit to pray for it.’ Although Urquhart remained in the Anglican communion, others among Hopkins’s friends became converts like himself. It may seem strange, now, that such passions were excited by the respective claims of England and Rome, but the Oxford community of the time was small enough for such religious enthusiasms – fostered by Newman’s compelling sermons and his own conversion – to be contagious.

Reading Hopkins’s early letters to Oxford contemporaries whose names are today unfamiliar makes one grateful for the editors’ biographical register and their lengthy footnotes. ‘We have annotated generously,’ they say, ‘taking account of the international readership which Hopkins now has; and have incorporated and built on the annotation of earlier editors.’ Sometimes they err by excess in footnotes more minutely detailed than necessary. And sometimes they err by defect. Readers lacking Latin will be frustrated by the occasional lack of translation. Although the Latin of Hopkins’s own remarks is translated, Latin elsewhere is not. In Hopkins’s letter of 31 October 1886, for instance, when he is translating a passage of Bridges’s poetry into Latin, there are 16 lines of untranslated Latin. A footnote refers us to the English original in Bridges’s six-volume Poetical Works, but few are likely to have those volumes to hand when reading Hopkins’s translation. And, so far as I can see, the editors have not listed separately the 43 added letters by Hopkins; one comes across them adventitiously, as the eye catches the date of their modern publication in journals.

Most useful to the contemporary ‘international readership’ is the editors’ introduction, which, after a surprisingly unfortunate opening sentence (‘Hopkins’s letters are his secular confessional’), sketches the poet’s life rapidly and winningly, quoting some of the best lines in the best letters and outlining the difficulties – real and self-inflicted – of Hopkins’s career. The editors aptly call the letters ‘the nearest he would ever come to writing an autobiography’, although they might have remarked that the ‘autobiography’ inferred from the letters omits the darkest autobiographical sentences Hopkins wrote, which occur in his Dublin retreat notes. The later letters testify to an exhaustion coming close to madness (as Hopkins himself wrote), and to a despair over absence of achievement, but do not – cannot, since Hopkins is writing in the necessarily public genre of a letter – entirely expose the mind’s dangerous ‘mountains, cliffs of fall/Frightful’ which appear in the terrors of the later poems.

Hopkins’s two chief poet-correspondents, Robert Bridges and Richard Watson Dixon, were both Protestants, and with them Hopkins kept reserves of privacy, knowing that Bridges especially found his religious life incomprehensible. When Bridges, disliking ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’, apparently intimated that it would not please the public, Hopkins shot back: ‘I do not write for the public. You are my public and I hope to convert you.’ And when Richard Watson Dixon couldn’t understand Hopkins’s conviction that his work as a priest only rarely permitted him to spend time on poetry, Hopkins declared: ‘I have never wavered in my vocation, but I have not lived up to it.’ To neither of these close friends could Hopkins entirely unfold the trials of his life as a Jesuit. The restraint of both Bridges and Hopkins in their correspondence is admirable, since Bridges’s unsympathetic attitude towards Catholicism never changed. When Bridges is planning to issue Hopkins’s poems, for instance, he writes to A.E. Housman requesting he compose a Latin dedication to Hopkins’s mother, adding, by way of explanation: ‘I am editing the poems of an old college friend … – became a Jesuit very foolishly – “pervert” [i.e. a convert] before he took his degree, and died 30 years ago at Dublin.’ Hopkins was well aware of Bridges’s view of his conversion and Jesuit life, and yet was forbearing enough to address his friend throughout the correspondence as ‘Dearest Bridges’. Even in 1918, just before Hopkins’s poems were printed, Bridges, writing to Hopkins’s sister Kate, is still annoyed enough with ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’ to say: ‘That terrible “Deutschland” looks and reads much better in type – you will be glad to hear. But I wish those nuns had stayed at home.’ However humorous he is being, he is still wishing Hopkins’s ‘Pindaric ode’ into non-existence.

A reader can follow the various themes of these letters by letting the eye run down the subject headings in the excellent index, especially the 12 columns devoted to ‘Hopkins, Gerard Manley’. The most plangent heading is ‘health’, under which a chronological list of subtopics becomes ever more dreadful (even as it omits Hopkins’s 1877 adult circumcision):

very weak, cold, ill lately, daily indigestion, medicine, sick in bed, diarrhoea, operation for piles, diarrhoea and vomiting, fagged, jaded, chilblain, dentist, in a great weakness, nervous prostration, nervous weakness, permanently injuring my eyes, dying of anaemia, coffin of weakness and dejection, much like madness, murderous cold and rheumatism, usual despair, in a prostration, eczema, toothache, gloomy mind, feeling very old, distress of mind, ill, rheumatic fever.

After such a recital of suffering, the final (and fatal) entry, ‘typhoid’, comes almost as a reprieve. Hopkins’s frailty of body and mind cruelly impeded all he desired to do, and one must believe his frequent accounts of prostration. These subheads of illnesses begin when Hopkins is only 23, and continue until his death at 44; a young man would not usually experience so much ill-health in two decades. Teaching bled him white: after Oxford, when he was teaching at Newman’s Oratory School (where he had also to tutor and supervise sport) he wrote to Baillie,

I must say that I am very anxious to get away from this place. I have become very weak in health and do not seem to recover myself here or likely to do so. Teaching is very burdensome, especially when you have much of it: I have. I have not much time and almost no energy – for I am always tired – to do anything on my own account.

Twenty years later, in Dublin, where Hopkins (the only English Jesuit in Ireland) feels himself intolerably isolated, the refrain has not changed. Writing again to Baillie, Hopkins says his friend’s letter ‘helps to cheer my very gloomy mind’.

Hopkins’s mind, however, was not invariably gloomy. Whenever he found a holiday escape from his work, and could immerse himself in nature, his buoyancy reappeared. And creative or intellectual questions could always challenge him into wit or argument: many of the letters record spirited discussions – of poetry, music, language, history, politics. Those who have read the letters in the earlier edition will encounter with undimmed pleasure Hopkins’s literary letters, both those on writers (Wordsworth, Keats, Browning, Tennyson, Hardy, Eliot, Barnes) and those on literary topics: archaism, Parnassianism, dialect, rare words, etymologies and prosody. The degree to which Hopkins was intellectually alert can be estimated from the many interests – from astronomy to Egyptology to musical composition – that approach and recede in his letter-writing. The one constant, never receding, is the interest in language (steadily recurring in the journals as well). It manifests itself in the famous letters on ‘sprung rhythm’ (the Hopkinsian prosody in which one counts only stressed syllables; a stressed syllable can be accompanied by several unstressed syllables or even by none at all). The didactic letter of 21 August 1877 to Bridges is the best known of the letters on prosody, but the less technical one that Hopkins wrote to his brother Everard is the more persuasive to the modern reader. In it, Hopkins objects to the habit of reading poetry silently, with the eye, and declares that poetry is intrinsically intended as speech: ‘The merely mental performance … is not the true nature of poetry, the darling child of speech, of lips and spoken utterance.’ But neither is poetry merely performance: like an orchestral score, it must be studied before it can be recited:

Neither of course do I mean my verse to be recited only. True poetry must be studied. As Shakespere and all great dramatists have their maximum effect on the stage but bear to be or must be studied at home before or after or both, so I shd wish it to be with my lyric poetry. And in practice that will be enough by itself alone to any one who has first realised the effect of reciting; for then, like a musician reading a score and supplying in thought the orchestra (as they can), no further performance is, substantially, needed.

To Bridges, Hopkins defends his ‘sprung rhythm’ as ‘the nearest to the rhythm of prose, that is the native and natural rhythm of speech … combining, as it seems to me, opposite and, one wd have thought, incompatible excellences, markedness of rhythm – that is rhythm’s self – and naturalness of expression’. Disappointed in Bridges’s bristling response to ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’, Hopkins wrote to him the following year, wryly and ironically complaining, even while being amusing on the subject of his own metaphorical phrasing:

I am sorry you never read the Deutschland again … You would have got more weathered to the style and its features – not really odd … The Deutschland on her first run worked very much and unsettled you, thickening and clouding your mind with vulgar mud bottom and common sewage (I see that I am going it with the image) and just then unhappily you drew off your criticisms all stinking (a necessity now of the image) and bilgy.

Nothing technical meant more to Hopkins than the ‘sprung rhythm’ deployed in the ‘Deutschland’, but he can still laugh at himself as he extends his image of ‘stinking’ bilge. The letters are always entertaining when they take up English usage, often playfully, especially with Bridges. Bridges has used the word ‘disillusion’ and Hopkins teasingly chides him for it:

‘Disillusion’ does exist, as typhus exists and the Protestant religion. The same ‘brutes’ say ‘disillusion’ as say ‘standpoint’ and ‘preventative’ and ‘equally as well’ and ‘to whomsoever shall ask’.

And when Bridges sends along his poem ‘The Dead Child’ saying it is his best, and also (we infer) that his language in it aims to be ‘severe’, Hopkins shows no mercy (the ellipses are his own):

‘Wise, sad head’ and ‘firm, pale hands’ do not strike me as severe at all, nor yet exquisite. Rather they belong to a familiar common place about ‘Reader, have you never hung over the pillow of … pallid cheek, clammy brow … long, long nightwatches … surely, Sir Josiah Bickerstaff, there is some hope! O say not all is over. It cannot be’ – You know.

Nor does Hopkins spare the celebrities of his day, hating the blank verse that ‘the scare-crow misbegotten Browning crew’ and others have ‘exuded’, adding ironically that ‘the Brownings are very fine too in their ghastly way.’ In a later letter Hopkins makes his most famous remarks about Browning. Browning, he says, has

a way of talking (and making his people talk) with the air and spirit of a man bouncing up from table with his mouth full of bread and cheese and saying that he meant to stand no blasted nonsense … Indeed I hold with the old-fashioned criticism that Browning is not really a poet, that he has all the gifts but the one needful and the pearls without the string; rather one should say raw nuggets and rough diamonds.

Hopkins’s vivacity in his harsher criticism is one of his charms, though I hesitate to think of the effect on his correspondents of his comments on their verse. Yet he did give appreciative and reasoned criticism to Bridges and Dixon and Patmore, labouring over their manuscripts almost line by line, annotating and commenting. (They were outwardly grateful for Hopkins’s eagle eye and painstaking discrimination, but didn’t, for the most part, adopt his corrections.) Reading the objections made by Bridges and Dixon concerning the (far superior) poems Hopkins sends them, one can only wince. Hopkins sends an early draft of ‘Spring and Fall’ (‘Margaret, are you grieving’) to Dixon, who immediately wants to smooth out its sprung rhythm into a more conventional scansion, saying:

It seems to me that in the couplet

    Nor mouth it, no nor mind expressed
    But heart heard of, ghost guessed:

it would be an improvement to bring the latter line into common rhythm –

    But heart heard of it, ghost guessed.

Just two weeks earlier, in a long letter, Hopkins had explained (he thought) his ‘sprung rhythm’ to Dixon, who had replied: ‘Your exposition of Sprung Rhythm is profoundly valuable, & most lucid.’ Yet at the first sign of irregularity, Dixon hastened to suggest an alteration into smoothness. To find his rhythmic invention misunderstood, even by his poet friends, discouraged Hopkins. As he wrote dryly to Bridges not long afterwards:

I sent [the poem ‘Brothers’] to Canon Dixon and he objected to the first four lines. Your objection begins after them. I have changed it to suit both. Do you think it improved?

And as even ‘dearest Bridges’ continued to goad him about his ‘eccentricities’, Hopkins retorted in exasperation:

You give me a long jobation about eccentricities. Alas, I have heard so much about and suffered so much for and in fact been so completely ruined for life by my alleged singularities that they are a sore subject.

His ‘singularities’ affected Hopkins’s life as a Jesuit as well. The examiners in his last stage before ordination essentially failed him in dogmatic theology, giving him marks of ‘below average’ and ‘average’. Hopkins could scarcely have failed on intellectual grounds, but he might have failed out of nervousness. It has been suggested (and disputed) that the examiners thought Hopkins heterodox in his preference for Duns Scotus over Thomas Aquinas. Scotus’s argument that there was a ‘thisness’, a haecceitas, in each separate creature confirmed the way Hopkins intuitively perceived the world, as abounding in individual difference. The countryside was full of a ‘pied’ and changing beauty, and Hopkins felt himself called to praise ‘All things counter, original, spare, strange’. He himself embodied – in every community in which he lived, beginning with his family – each of these adjectives: he was (especially to the Irish) ‘counter, original, spare, strange’; and if common taste ran to the monotony of uniformity, he would prize, even if he was alone in prizing them, ‘dappled things’. Like some other early poems, ‘Pied Beauty’ – intended to be a poem about the reconciliation of the Many in the One – skirted danger as it advanced from animals’ dapple and the farmer’s ‘gear and tackle and trim’ to an adjective denoting a questionable human quality: ‘fickle’ (quickly erased by ‘freckled’). The doom-laden ‘Spelt from Sibyl’s Leaves’, as many have said, reduces ‘dapple’ to ‘black, white; right, wrong’ allowing for no intermediate gradations. Hopkins’s clearsighted courage in taking on human nature in addition to physical nature is one of his bravest advances, since he was himself more at ease with a neutral beauty than with ‘mortal beauty | – dangerous; / does set danc- / ing blood’.

Hopkins’s youthful practice of drawing (Ruskinian in its careful rendering of differentiating details) helped him to note a host of individual qualities and aspects even in a single creature. When his heart is ‘stirred’ by the non-‘dangerous’ beauty of the kestrel’s flight (in ‘The Windhover’) and he wishes to grasp it as a whole, he must first discriminate each of its aspects: ‘Brute beauty’ and ‘valour’, and ‘act’, ‘air’, ‘pride’, ‘plume!’ Only after such an inventory of difference can he gather the bird into one ‘inscape’. This is an effortful thing to do– to turn an object into an authentic symbol by synthesising all its separate qualities into a single whole: it is the most strenuous act of the poetic mind. Hopkins therefore commands himself – in a self-directed imperative, a form not uncommon in poetry – to ‘buckle’ those psychically assimilated qualities to his own ‘stirred’ heart, alchemising them into the subjective world of feeling, and thereby generating the imagination that renders them inseparable from human import. Once the outer world has been wholly internalised into symbolic form, then (to use his own word) the meaning ‘explodes’.

Readers will be struck, as I am, by passages they have semi-forgotten; for me, it was Hopkins’s outraged sputter to Bridges about the impossibility of introducing the Greek gods (as Bridges had) into modern verse:

In earnest, not allegorically, you bring in a goddess among the characters: it revolts me. Then not unnaturally, as it seemed to me, her speech is the worst in the play: being an unreality she must talk unreal. Believe me, the Greek gods are a totally unworkable material; the merest frigidity, which must chill and kill every living work of art they are brought into… . [They are] cowards, loungers, without majesty, without awe, antiquity, foresight, character; old bucks, young bucks, and Biddy Buckskins.

He runs on colloquially, ‘talking’ warmly and unselfconsciously. If only his friends could do the same. Since Bridges destroyed his own letters to Hopkins, the new material in this edition – the letters back to Hopkins from his other correspondents – seems pallid, lacking originality, when juxtaposed to his own athletic prose. Patmore disliked Hopkins’s poems (pressed on him by Bridges), and Canon Dixon, although sympathetic and genial, doesn’t produce much vivacity. It is good to have the canvas of the exchanges filled in, and there are some livelier moments (especially in Dixon), but these letters from friends don’t add substantially to our sense of Hopkins’s own crisp messages. They do, however, show the poets’ appreciation for Hopkins’s attention to their work, which often came at a high cost to him. What must he have felt, apprehensively, as he read, in a letter from Dixon: ‘I sd be glad to have your opinion of a narrative poem in couplets, of the Byzantine times, that I have,’ and what must he have felt, even more apprehensively, when he received the manuscript – was it ‘The Story of Eudocia’? Wearily he sat down, when he had no energy even for his own work, to write a critique of Dixon’s uninspired couplets, on and on. As usual, Hopkins begins his critique with all the compliments he can muster, but then his tolerance wears to tiredness, and he indicts construction, metrics and, most of all, archaism (‘I look on the whole genus as vicious’). Even in profound depression, Hopkins remained immutably honest in aesthetic judgment, a great and rare virtue visible throughout these letters, counterbalancing to the end his anxious fears and his recurrent sorrows.

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Vol. 36 No. 10 · 22 May 2014

I mistakenly wrote, about Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poem ‘Moonrise’, that it had ‘feminine rhymes’ (LRB, 3 April). I meant to say that it had feminine line-endings; it is unrhymed.

Helen Vendler
Harvard University

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Lawrence R. Jensen & Associates
Schedule a Consultation at:

What is "just cause" for eviction in San Jose?

In April of 2017, San Jose followed the lead of other California cities regarding landlord/tenant laws and tipped the scales in favor of tenants. After seven hours of debate, four of which involved solely testimony, the city introduced two new ordinances. One of those ordinances was the Tenant Protection Ordinance, which requires landlords to have "just cause" to terminate the tenancy of month-to-month residents. Santa Clara County Association of Realtors details what "just cause" is.

Under the old state law, landlords could evict month-to-month tenants without cause so long as they provided those tenants with a 60-day notice. Under the new laws, however, a landlord must demonstrate that a tenant's situation meets one or more of 12 requirements in order for the landlord to be able to evict the tenant.

The grounds are not unreasonable, but they do take away what little freedom San Jose landlords had when it came to controlling the type of community they wished to maintain. The 12 "just cause" grounds are nonpayment of rent; damage to the rental unit; frequent or material violation of the terms of the rental agreement; refusal to agree to a new rental contract; refusal to grant the landlord access to the unit; troublesome behavior; unapproved subtenants; governmental order to vacate; substantial renovation to the unit; removal of the tenant under the Ellis Act; vacating an unpermitted rental unit; and/or owner move-in.

If you are a landlord in San Jose, and if you wish to terminate a month-to-month tenancy in a legal fashion, you must prove that you comply with the ordinance by utilizing the form prescribed by the city. You must mail or hand-deliver a copy of the notice to the city within three days of delivering it to the tenant.

The information shared here is for educational purposes alone. It should not be used as legal advice.

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Service Oriented Architecture

SOA architecture is at the core of your organization. SOA Web Services and Service Oriented Architecture add flexibility while integrating diverse systems across the enterprise. Simplify management of the end-to-end SOA design, implementation and maintenance with SOA Services.

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Workshops & Residencies

Lucie Lee has led many professional dance workshops for a range of skills and abilities; from those just starting out dancing to professional dancers.

We are looking for groups/schools/colleges to deliver our DANCE DIGITAL and MINDFULNESS workshop to raise 5%income as part of our ACE funding. TO BOOK:

Here are just some of the places that we have been invited to deliver workshops recently:

University Centre Doncaster

Kala Sangam Bradford

DMA Academy Shipley

Freedom Studios Bradford

Yorkshire Dance Centre, Leeds

Mind the Gap, Bradford

These recent workshops have celebrated our new work; Moving Memories and Pathology of the Innerself and have included:

> rep from Moving Memories & Pathology of the Inner Self
> Laban technique and Contemporary dance technique
> Development of Rep work through task based choreography
> Basic Lift technique
> Solo and Group work.
> Q&A with Lucie focusing on the choreographic process during the RnD.

We can deliver workshops tailored to suit the needs of most groups so please get in touch if you would like to book a workshop for your group.

Choreographic Lab

  • Contemporary dance technique and physical theatre
  • Learn Rep from ‘Lost’
  • Development of Rep work through task based choreographic tasks
  • Basic Lift technique
  • Solo and Group work.

Q&A with Lucie focusing on the choreographic process during the RnD.

Creative Digital Lab

This workshop will allow participants the opportunity to develop skills in the following areas:

  •  The basic set up of using technology in performance
  • How to use projection to enhance live performance
  • How to use live feed in performance
  • How to use mobile equipment, such as iPads, to interact with projection in performance
  • Q&A with Lucie to gain an insight into the day to day running of a professional dance company

“Loved the choreographed section. Some brilliant movement. A brilliant workshop, varied + really interesting”.

“It was my first time to attend a dance studio. I enjoyed it very much and I would like to attend another workshop. It was very good”.

“I thought it was a very good pace; learning quite a lot in a short workshop’.

(Participants at Freedom Studios)-RnD workshop:

 Current Residencies 2018:

  • July – Kala Sangam, Bradford
  • August – Mind the Gap, Bradford
  • September – The Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield
  • October – Kala Sangam, Bradford

Past Residencies

Moving Memories:

  • November 2017 – Mind the Gap
  • October 2017 – Bradford College and Yorkshire Dance
  • August/September 2017 – Kala Sangam

RnD ‘Pathology of Inner Self’:

  • February 2016 – Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield
  • October 2015 & February 2016 at IOU, Halifax
  • October 2015 at University Centre Doncaster
  • August 2015 at Mind the Gap, Bradford
  • July 2015 – Yorkshire Dance, Leeds
  • April 2015 – Theatre in the Mill, Bradford

Autumn 2012 – LLDC was resident at Yorkshire Dance, Leeds last autumn, to develop the Legacy of Hidden Beauty performance piece and to established the links with Leeds. We also hold a morning professional class and sharing performance at the end of our residency.

Autumn 2011 – LLDC was resident at Batley Art Gallery, Batley, for 3 weeks, with our live interactive performance, which included dance, digital media and visual arts. The art gallery never worked with dancer artist and this was new theme for them to explore. The collaborative artist created a visual sculpture for the dancers to interact with as well as to stand on their own within the space. The theme was to reconnect with the space and nature which Batley Art Gallery offered. We worked with four different community groups within Batley area (children and adults) and developed this performance, which local residence viewed with live performance every Saturday for 3 weeks.

April 2011 – LLDC was resident at Armley Mills: The Leeds Industrial Museum for 3weeks, to connect with the unusually spaces which the Armley Mills offered. We worked with Dosti Women’s group and engaged them with the visual art and dance workshops. The dancers (Lucie Lee & Chris Nykiel) then perform the Hidden Beauty dance routine with video projection projected in the Victoria Street setting. We used three distinct spaces, however all connecting with nature, environment and the space itself. The contrast of past and present gave us starting point, heavy machinery and the textile connection to the nature gave us fascinating theme to play with. Armley Mills offered very exciting space to work with and the visitors could explore the grounds of Mills with an unique experience.

Lucie and the company members are often invited to attend local and national performances, events, festivals, conventions.

Lucie also delivers a keynote speeches, lecture demonstration, performances, attends school assembles and shares her passion and drive for dance in creative practical consultations.

Make your dreams come true with lucie lee dance company – we make stars!


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Antique Adjustable Piano Stool, English, Victorian, Walnut, Music, Seat c.1870

  USD $556
  United Kingdom

This is an antique adjustable piano stool. An English, Victorian walnut music seat dating to the late 19th century, circa 1870.

Select walnut displays a rich caramel hue with fine grain interest
Good consistent colour throughout and a desirable aged patina
Original upholstery to adjustable seat cushion in good order

Traditionally stuffed, upholstered in a light green velour cloth with brocade trim
Inverted finial beneath stout turned and fluted stem
Raised on a tripod of sinuous swept legs

This is a lovely antique piano stool, comfortable and stable. Solid joints and construction, delivered waxed, polished and ready for the home.

Max Width: 34cm (13.5'')
Max Depth: 34cm (13.5'')
Min Height: 44cm (17.25")
Max Height: 53cm (20.75'')

We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee with all of our antiques.
We ship worldwide with professional packing and attractive rates - please send us your post / zip code and country for a quote.
Free delivery to most of the U.K. - Please send us your post code for confirmation.
Deliveries taking on average ten working days to arrive at your door from receipt of payment.
Please contact us if you require any further information - we are here to help.

Our Ref: 18.6040

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Culture / Art Republik

Art galleries in Singapore: Art Republik interviews Stéphane Le Pelletier, Director of Opera Gallery Asia Pacific

Art Republik talks with the gallery’s Director in Asia Pacific to find out more about the business and highlights from 2016

Feb 17, 2017 | By Nadya Wang
Stéphane Le Pelletier

Stéphane Le Pelletier

Opera Gallery was created in Singapore back in 1994, and now has branches in Paris, Monaco, London, Geneva, New York, Miami, Aspen, Hong Kong, Seoul, Dubai and Beirut. The global enterprise presents a wide range of modern and contemporary art to its collectors and visitors over 22 years across the globe and shows no signs of slowing down.

In 2016 alone, Opera Gallery Singapore presented a diverse line-up of artists, from Icelandic painter Katrin Fridriks and Chinese painter Liu Jiu Tong in a duet show ‘Energies Unleashed’ to a ‘Masters of Distinction’ show offering works by luminary artists such as Claude Monet and Pierre Bonard to ‘Infinite Diversity’ celebrating contemporary Japanese artists such as Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara. The variety attests to Opera Gallery’s intentioned inclusiveness in presenting art in all its forms to their clients.

Art Republik speaks with Stéphane Le Pelletier, Director of Opera Gallery Asia Pacific, who oversees the gallery’s operations in Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong, to find out more about Opera Gallery’s offerings, his view of the regional art market, and advice for art collecting.

Could you briefly tell us about Opera Gallery?

We have an assembly of top artists collected by renowned museums. Combined with the exclusiveness of the artwork, prestige of the artist and the reputation of our gallery, Opera Gallery is able to provide our clients with a valuable piece of art that is instilled not just with a sense of history and desirability but also as an investment grade artwork.

What sort of artworks do you offer?

We are known for our artworks by Masters such as Chagall, Monet and Picasso, to name a few. Besides our Masters Collection, we also represent internationally renowned contemporary artists, which include Spanish artist Lita Cabellut, French artist Andre Brasilier, British artist Joe Black and many more. Lita Cabellut is known for her vibrant, expressive portraits done on her signature textured canvas, Andre Brasilier for his sublime and tranquil paintings of landscapes and horses while Joe Black is presented by his intricate portraits of famous personalities made up of tiny plastic soldiers.

As director of Opera Gallery Asia Pacific, how would you sum up 2016?

2016 has been a successful and constructive year for Opera Gallery Singapore. We have participated in two art fairs and hosted five exhibitions in our gallery. Through the visitors and media exposure from these art fairs and exhibitions, it has brought greater awareness from the public to the artworks and artists we represent.

Could you discuss one or two exhibitions that you have been most proud of and/or were great successes in 2016?

I am proud of each exhibition that has been organised by our gallery. There are two which I find most notable, namely our ‘Masters of Distinction’ exhibition and our presentation at Art Stage Singapore. Both were successful in all aspects from the exemplary artworks featured, the overwhelming response and support from our visitors and clients as well as the strong media support given.

How did you begin working at Opera Gallery?

I began with the gallery in Singapore as the general manager, overseeing the day to day running of the gallery, with roles including increasing the local autonomy, sales and expansion of the business. Since then, I have curated numerous major art exhibitions – including artists like Picasso, Renoir, Chagall, Monet and Warhol.

Could you talk about the various roles you fulfil at Opera Gallery?

Currently, as the director of Opera Gallery Asia Pacific, I oversee the business direction for our galleries in Seoul, Hong Kong and of course, Singapore. I ensure the maintenance of a strong relationship with our clients, to create and build up greater awareness of our galleries and our artists, to discover new artists from this region and be constantly attuned to the art trend and art consumption patterns of this region. Being the director, I also need to ensure a strong and correct branding of our gallery in the region and how we are presented to the public.

What are the challenges in your work?

Looking for good-quality art pieces, up-and-coming new artists, artists with potential that can fit into our gallery’s direction, as well as curating the gallery space to make it attractive at all times.

And what are the rewards?

Building and developing of relationships with clients and the artists we represent. In a way, we grow together, exchanging, sharing our experience and interest in art.

What are in the works for Opera Gallery in 2017?

We will have a solo exhibition with Manolo Valdes in the third quarter of 2017. He is one of the most important artists of our time. This will be his first solo and most comprehensive exhibition in Asia where a detailed oeuvre of his extensive artworks will be featured, ranging from paintings to large-size sculptures that will line the boardwalk of Orchard Road.

There are more and more online platforms to purchase artworks from. As a brick-and-mortar gallery, what advantages does Opera Gallery offer to the art buyer that these online avenues simply do not?

Relationship is built on trust over time. Once a bond is established, the gallerist can assist the clients to look for art that is specific to their liking. At Opera Gallery, we strive to understand our customers and over time, we get a better understanding of their specific needs, requirements and preferences which enables us to give recommendations and advice that are specially tailored for them. It is this customised, personalised service, care and understanding of our customers which online avenues cannot provide.

What are your thoughts on the art scene in Singapore, and how does it compare with others?

The gallery scene in Singapore has certainly become more vibrant and varied over the years with galleries representing a wide spectrum of artists and genres from different countries. Singapore is gradually getting in line with the more mature art markets of Asia such as Hong Kong, China and Japan in terms of the quality and representation of art and artists. Japan and Hong Kong has always had strong art markets and in more recent years, China has developed one too.

What changes have you seen in the past five to ten years?

The art scene in Asia has developed significantly, with art consumers gaining a greater depth of understanding, interest and appreciation of art. They are increasingly well-travelled and hence have acquired a greater knowledge of art in the international art arena. In addition, there is an increasing trend of people acquiring art as an alternative form of investment option to guard against the volatility of economic conditions.

What changes lie ahead?

With regards to changes that lie ahead, as art lovers and collectors are more tech-savvy, Opera Gallery has moved with the times and increased our online visibility via our website as well as social media. We are also moving ahead of the trend as young collectors are more open to mixed-media artwork as well as photography by introducing new media artists via our many exhibitions.

Who are your favourite modern and/or contemporary artists?

My taste varies. In my line of work, I get to see very good works not just of one artist but many. I am more drawn to contemporary works with unique creativity such as Lita Cabellut and photographer Gerard Rancinan. I also love the works of Andre Brasilier.

For art buyers out there, in your opinion, which is more important – the love of a piece or its investment value?

When it comes to collecting art, first and foremost and above all, it should be out of genuine liking for a work. As your collection expands, your expenditure on an artwork will also increase. It is a natural progression that you would gradually look out for the possible investment value and return on the artwork as well, looking beyond aesthetics to other aspects of the artwork such as its provenance and the portfolio of the artist.

‘Chevaux sous les arbres’, Andre Brasilier.

‘Chevaux sous les arbres’, Andre Brasilier.

This article was first published in Art Republik.

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Lumberman’s Wholesale Blog

Ultra-Tec Cable Railing In Stock at LWI

May 13, 2015 by LWI Supply

Ultra-Tec cable railing products are easy to install and can be used for both indoor and outdoor residential and commercial applications.

Because projects and styles vary, Ultra-Tec kits vary to meet the requirements of each job and can be  incorporated with wood, metal, and composite posts.

Let LWI assist you with your next Cable Rail project.

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Join the LTR team!

LTR Dressage is always ready to welcome more members into the team.  We have had success with horses of all ages and breeds and riders of all ages, backgrounds, and desires.  To learn more about our students and history of success over the years please visit the galleries below.

To learn more about our facility, and the services that we offer please follow these links:

Our Horses

In addition to our great student riders we have had some great show horses over the years.  Please visit this gallery to learn more about our past and present champions.

Life at LTR

We work hard at LTR but we also have a lot of fun.  Here is an inside look at life with the LTR family.

Our Students

We are proud of all of current and former students!  To learn more about some of our successful students please visit this gallery.
 You can expand any photo in the slide shows and learn a bit more about each horse or rider by clicking the image.
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SOCCER: Macclesfield 0 West Ham United 3

West Ham overcame an impressive Silkmen showing with a Jermaine Defoe brace and late Joe Cole goal.

With the game seeming to be going into the interval scoreless - Macclesfield were on song and looking like they could take something from this FA Cup third round game.

But a clinical Defoe goal on 45 minutes gave the Premiership visitors the vital edge at the break - one which the hosts couldn't respond to.

A second from the England under-21 striker on 72 minutes, followed by Cole's effort with five minutes remaining gave the Hammers a victory that didn't reflect the game.

Macclesfield appeared to have scored after three minutes as Richard Tracey headed the ball home from a parried Rickie Lambert shot - only for the linesman to rule the strike was offside.

The Silkmen continued to cause problems and just after the half hour a Rickie Lambert free-kick rattled the bar, with keeper David James struggling.

Young talent Lambert cracked an excellent shot from a free-kick on the half-hour mark but James was equal to it, while a long-range Chris Byrne effort sailed narrowly over.

West Ham opened the scoring just before the interval as Cole and Sebastian Schemmel combined to pick out the run of Defoe to clip the ball home.

Glenn Roeder's side started stronger in the second half and Steve Wilson produced a great save off a John Moncur 25-yard strike.

With Macclesfield tiring, Defoe grabbed a second goal - picking up the ball in the centre of the pitch, he raced to the edge of the box before unleashing a shot which left Wilson no chance.

West Ham were reduced to ten men with the dismissal of John Moncur for a tackle on Chris Byrne which resulted in a mass brawl and the midfielder getting two yellow cards. Christian Dailly and Danny Adams were also booked for their part in the melee.

No matter, Cole made it three when he pounced on a mistake by Dave Ridler in the box to slot home calmly.


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India and China are in the midst of a protracted rivalry, with microstates like the Maldives caught in the middle, writes Mohan Malik. Part Two of his article looks at Delhi’s options in the face of continuing Chinese encroachment in the Indian Ocean. (Click here for Part one.)

By Mohan Malik, March 16, 2018

The Maldives is now caught in a tug-of-war between China and India. Both have strategic interests to protect. Both are jostling to gain the upper hand, but only one can emerge victorious from this crisis. Seeing the Maldives as a critical component of its Maritime Silk Road (MSR), China has developed strong investments in the Indian Ocean microstate and wants the autocratic ruler of this state, President Yameen Abdulla Gayoom – “China’s Man in the Maldives” – to stay in power.

China’s military and commercial links with Indian Ocean littoral states weave a “sharp power” web around India, making it politically costly for Delhi to take action detrimental to Chinese interests in the Indian Ocean. However, India does not want its southern neighbour to turn into China’s newest colony. Delhi would welcome the return of former President Mohamed Nasheed to power to shift the balance of influence back in its favour. So, how will India respond to the ongoing crisis in the Maldives? What are India’s options?

Given the Maldives’s proximity and strong historic ties, doing nothing is not an option. But no option is cost-free. Military intervention might end either in a quagmire or become politically costly for India’s long-term interests. Further, it would reinforce India’s image as a big, bad bully. On the other hand, a lack of action would greatly undermine India’s claim of being a “net security provider” in the Indian Ocean region, emboldening adversaries and disappointing friends who look to India as a strategic counterweight to China.

The possibility of an Indian military intervention cannot be ruled out. India has increased its naval presence in international waters about an hour from the Maldivian capital of Malé. But so too has China, with a bolstered naval presence that allows it to both intervene and evacuate. Chinese diplomats have made it known that Beijing stands ready to help Yameen if India tries to unseat him. However, given Beijing’s current limited naval capability in the Indian Ocean, a military offensive in the Himalayas would be a more realistic option should China decide to “teach India a lesson.”

India has increased its naval presence in international waters about an hour from the Maldivian capital of Malé. But so too has China.

Chinese strategic writings constantly remind India of China’s overall technological, economic, and military superiority should a combination of disputes – related to Tibet, Pakistan, disputed Himalayan borders, India’s energy exploration in the South China Sea, or the elbow-bashing in the Indian Ocean – snowball into an armed confrontation. If India backs off or otherwise acquiesces during any clash with Beijing, the small and weak states will quietly slide into China’s orbit and a new Sino-centric order will then emerge in the Indo-Pacific.

A clash of values and visions: Belt and Road Initiative versus the Quad

Beijing’s nod to the military coup in Zimbabwe in 2017 and support for the Maldivian and Cambodian regimes’ suppression of democracy reveal China’s willingness to intervene in the domestic affairs of other states if it perceives vital Chinese interests are at stake and if the costs of intervention are relatively low. China sees itself as being engaged in a long, protracted competition with India, Japan, and the United States, and would want Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Pakistan to remain within its orbit. Beijing also wants to send a strong message that countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – which envisages a network of ports, railways, roads, and industrial parks linking China with Africa, Asia, and Europe – can look to China for both economic growth and military security, and that challenges to its expanding sphere of influence will no longer be tolerated.

Despite a growing chorus in India’s strategic circles for military intervention, the Modi government has thus far chosen a diplomatic pathway to pressure Yameen’s government to uphold the Supreme Court’s ruling and restore democracy. India has also asked the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to the Maldives. However, with China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia blocking attempts to have the Maldivian crisis tabled on the UN Security Council’s agenda, the UN cannot be of much help.

India has, in turn, sought the support of the United States, Japan, and Australia to oust the pro-China Yameen from power through diplomatic, economic, and political means. The United States, with its own base south of the Maldives in Diego Garcia, shares India’s concerns about an autocratic regime heavily indebted to Beijing being manipulated to provide access to Chinese naval vessels. Regional concerns about Chinese behaviour regarding maritime disputes coupled with the PLA’s acquisition of expeditionary capabilities worsen the security dilemma, and result in balancing behaviour from China’s neighbors.

At the normative level, the Maldivian crisis challenges the resurrected Quad (comprising the United States, India, Japan, and Australia) and its quest for a rules-based “free and open Indo-Pacific.” The crisis highlights the need for a coordinated Quad response to prevent Chinese expansion. The Maldives’ fledgling democracy is, after all, yet another casualty of Emperor Xi’s megaproject. Evidence from Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Djibouti, and now the Maldives suggests that BRI-related investments undermine democratic institutions, increase corruption, restrict civil liberties, and favour autocratic and military rulers. Let us call it the “BRI collateral.” Wary of closer strategic alignment amongst democratic and maritime powers, Beijing seems in a hurry to lock in its economic, geopolitical, and institutional gains vis-à-vis rival India and other powers before China’s demographic and economic decline sets in.

The Maldivian crisis challenges the resurrected Quad (comprising the United States, India, Japan, and Australia) and its quest for a rules-based “free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Obviously, a broader contest of clashing values and visions between the Quad and BRI is going on, which requires a multilateral response at different levels to prevent democracy from falling like dominoes under the march of authoritarianism. One country’s response alone, whether that be from India or the United States, cannot deal with the ideological and strategic challenge from China. Hyper-nationalism, a belief in Han exceptionalism, and certainty about the inevitability of a post-American Sino-centric world now shape Beijing’s Asia policy.

Spellbound by the grandeur of sea power, Chinese strategic thinkers wax lyrical about resurrecting China’s fifteenth century naval expeditions to the “Western Ocean” (the old Chinese name for the Indian Ocean). China’s cultivation of friendly, pliant regimes via economic inducements and strategic coercion all along the maritime choke points in the Indian Ocean sea lanes is similar to the Ming Court’s past attempts to control the maritime lanes by changing political regimes in Malacca, Sumatra, and Sri Lanka so as to facilitate commercial and maritime dominance. Whereas the collapse of the Soviet empire led the West to declare victory and “the end of history,” the East saw Beijing resurrecting China’s imperial history.

Ironically, China’s quest for resources, markets, and bases following the direction taken by old imperial powers and attempts to establish an empire of “exclusive economic enclaves” run by Chinese conglomerates to usher in the age of Pax Sinica is now bringing former European imperial powers back in Asia. French and British navies are planning to operate joint task forces in the Indo-Pacific to maintain a rules-based international order, backed by South and Southeast Asian countries. Faced with the onslaught of authoritarianism, the Quad in the Indo-Pacific could well be reinforced by a Concert of Democracies (COD) comprising Canada and the European Union at the global level to uphold a rules-based order.

Whoever prevails in this geopolitical poker game will ultimately determine the future of the world order. In the meantime, the risk of miscalculation lies with the Chinese military overestimating its strength, and the rest of the world underestimating Beijing’s ambitions, power, and purpose. Absent a rules-based order, Asian giants will continue to jostle over the territory, resources, and allegiance of small states from the Himalayas to the Indian and Pacific oceans, and the so-called Pacific Century may then turn out to be just another bloody century in Asia.

Mohan Malik is a professor in Asian security at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu, and is the editor of Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014) and author of China and India: Great Power Rivals (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011). The views expressed here are his own.

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Push notifications on the iPhone: once bitten, twice shy?

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If you thought you were perhaps experiencing a moment of déjà vu during Tuesday’s announcement of push notifications for the iPhone, don’t worry: it wasn’t a glitch in the Matrix. The presentation did look virtually unchanged from the information we last saw Apple Senior Vice President of iPhone Software Scott Forstall discussing at the June 2008 Worldwide Developer Conference.

At the time, Forstall promised that the system would be available for developers come September.

It wasn’t. Nor did it make an appearance during January’s Macworld Expo keynote. In fact, it pretty much just disappeared from the face of the earth.

“You know, we’re late on this one,” said Forstall as he announced push notifications again during Tuesday’s iPhone 3.0 preview. According to the Apple VP, the response from developers to last year’s announcement had been so enthusiastic that Apple started to think that maybe it had underestimated just how popular the notification system would be. So, said Forstall, the company decided to “rearchitect” the system from the ground up. “Now we’re good to go,” he concluded.

Despite that seemingly massive task, the capabilities and operation of the push notification system seem to be exactly the same as promised last year. Here’s how it works: The iPhone keeps a persistent network connection via the cellular network to Apple’s server, through which developers can send three types of notification: a badge update (à la the built-in Mail client), a text dialog (like when you receive an SMS message), or a sound alert. You can also combine multiple types of alert, as demonstrated by ESPN’s Oke Okaro showed off a sports application that popped up a text dialog box while playing the familiar ESPN tone.

And that’s it.

Obviously, it’ll be a while before we can actually see the system in action, but the push notifications ystem promises a modest improvement in the way that we interact with many of our iPhone applications. Instant-messaging programs, for example, will become more useful, since you can get messages without having to be running the application in the foreground (or resorting to workarounds like mail or SMS notification). News apps can now grab your attention when an update comes in. Social networking applications could let you know if you’ve received messages you might want to read.

But push notifications are hardly a panacea. Applications still can’t run in the background, which hurts applications like third-party Internet radio applications, since you can’t listen to audio from those apps while performing other tasks on the device. And as nice as notifications will be for instant messaging, in many ways it’s a poor substitute for a true background-capable application.

According to Forstall, the reason Apple chose not to do background processes is primarily due to concerns for battery life and standby time—the company’s tests showed that background processes gobbled up power like Takeru Kobayashi at a hot-dog-eating contest.

There are other usability questions about the notification system, too. For example, there's the matter of notification overload: Getting a text dialog box every time you get a new Twitter update would try the patience of even the most devoted Twitter user. Will the slew of notification-capable applications turn all of our iPhones into incessantly-chiming, dialog-box-spewing annoyances? When I’m on instant messenger, I’m often carrying on a few conversations at the same time; I could see notifications for each of those messages quickly becoming overwhelming.

It seems likely Apple or the third-party developers will provide a way to control the level of notifications on an application-by-application basis, or at least the ability to turn them on and off, but at least a portion of that responsibility will probably fall to the developer. That means all it takes is one poorly thought-out application to ruin your iPhone experience.

And despite the fact that Forstall stressed that today’s iPhone push notifications are brought to us by the word “scalable,” there remains the question of just how much Apple’s system can handle. Could millions of Twitter updates—say, at an Apple event—bring the entire service to its knees? If there were enough iPhones at the South by Southwest conference to merit bringing in additional infrastructure, how does that bode for the notification system?

The amount of time Apple spent at last year’s WWDC and on Tuesday’s event explaining why push notifications are superior to background processes suggests to me that the latter is in fact what Apple would prefer to be doing, but the hardware just isn’t there yet. The push notification system is a stopgap solution, just like Steve Jobs's claim that web applications were "a pretty sweet solution" for third-party developers who wanted to write software for the iPhone. Over 800 million App Store downloads later, we all know how well that turned out.

The real question is: are push notifications good enough to keep iPhone users happy until a more capable solution is possible? We’ll have to wait until this summer to find out—well, assuming it actually ships this time.

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Made in Steel awards the creative component of steel

The internationally renowned artist Maria Cristina Carlini for the 2019 edition of the Made in Steel Awards.

Press conference of the eighth edition

Presented to the press this morning the objectives of the Conference & Exhibition, with anticipations on the performance of the steel sector

Made in Steel 2019 is held in conjunction with Lamiera

More than 140 international operators coming from 28 countries: a double opportunity to meet international buyers.

Plan your visit to Made in Steel 2019

By car, train or plane: discover how to easly reach fieramilano Rho

Discover the matchmaking service

The free business networking service that connects visitors and exhibitors is now online

The 2019 conference program now online

Three days of discussions and debates on sustainability, innovation and the human factor, crucial issues for the steel industry of the future.

Made in Steel 2019 – Steel on stage

The new contest by Made in Steel e Digital Magics for startups and SMES that are capable of bringing innovation to the steel industry is now opening.

Display your press releases in the pressroom

Made in Steel offers all exhibitors the opportunity to present their press releases in the official press room of the event.

Press accreditation now open

Online press accreditation now open: by filling in the online form it is now possible to request press accreditation to Made in Steel 2019.


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Posted on:
15 January 2020

Short term temporary roles
Great working environments
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We are looking for confident, customer focussed candidates who are interested in temporary opportunities with immediate starts!

If you enjoy working in call centre environments and pride yourself on your excellent customer service skills, then this may be an opportunity for you!

The roles
You will be responsible for providing an excellent quality of service to new and existing customers. You will constantly be looking for ways to deliver the best service possible that is tailored to each individual’s needs.

• Resolving customer complaints and queries
• Guiding and advising on a range of products and requirements
• Data entry
• General administration

You will need:
• Previous experience in a customer service-based role
• The ability to pick up new systems and processes quickly
• Excellent verbal and written communication
• A positive and driven personality
• To be available to start immediately and work full time

Click ‘apply’ to register your interest or email your CV through to India Bell –

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Jersey Royal New Potatoes -2 Recipes; Hot German bacon & potato salad & Rosemary roast potatoes.

Our family loves potatoes in pretty much every form so over the years I have developed many ways of making them more exciting. We especially love Jersey Royal New Potatoes which are low fat, low cal, high fibre and low GI which is perfect for those looking to cut down on carbs for whatever reason.

Beer marinated pork with rosemary roast Jersey Royal potatoes, buttered carrots & leek salad.

Griddled steak with colourful 'slaw, German hot potato salad & steamed asparagus.

For the two recipes I'm sharing today I used Asda's Extra Special Jersey Royal potatoes which really are extra special! Distinctively sweet and nutty the potatoes are hand planted and have been grown in Jersey since 1880 by farmers who still fertilise their crops with seaweed.

They are delicious just gently steamed with a smear of salted butter and a sprinkle of ground black peppercorns but there are so many other ways you can use these useful veg without the need to scrape them like my granny always did.

The first recipe is quick and simple and perfect for family dinners, to serve alongside barbecued food, as part of a traditional roast dinner or even with chunky sliced ham.

Simply chop larger potatoes into half, leaving smaller ones whole if you like although I find they are fluffier if you slice them.

Par boil until just soft, drain well then toss in pre-heated oil as you would with "old" roast potatoes. Sprinkle fresh rosemary (and garlic if liked) over the potatoes along with a grind of sea salt then roast for about 40 minutes at 160c (fan) 180C, 350F, gas mark 4.

Turn occasionally until potatoes are just brown and crunchy round the edges.

I served my roast potatoes alongside pork chops which had been marinated for two hours + in French lager on a bed of sliced white onions (method below), steamed carrots and a raw leek salad.

Use a fattier cut of chops if you want the beer to really permeate but lean chops will work too. Allow one or two chops per person depending on appetite. Thinly slice 1 large onion and place onion then chops into a dish. Pour beer over chops and turn at least once during marinating basting chops with beer.

Remove chops from marinade and grill or BBQ. Drain onions and fry until brown.

I also served a raw leek salad - don't grimace, it's really tasty (and this from a known salad avoider!)

Prepare salad at least two hours before meal (this is great as you can do it when you prepare  pork marinade)

Thinly slice 2 leeks, grate one apple into bowl and add 2-3 TBSP Greek yoghurt and 1 TBSP mayonnaise. Add salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar and the juice from half a lemon and mix well. Leave for two hours and mix again before serving.

Trust me it's a mild but tasty salad which even my children enjoyed.

Time for some more Jersey Royal facts.

Top Seven Health Benefits of Asda Jersey Royals:

1.    High in vitamin C for healthy teeth, bones and hair
2.    More fibre than courgettes, strawberries or cornflakes
3.    Less calories than rice or pasta (21 calories per serving)
4.    Less fat than couscous
5.    A completely unprocessed wholefood
6.    100% gluten free
7.    Green nutritional traffic lights

Plus as I mentioned , low GI so great if you thought you had to give up potatoes as part of a low carb diet.

OK so onto recipe number two- German style hot potato salad with bacon. Tangy and sweet at the same time.

Confession. This is not my own recipe-Years ago my children's school had an international day during which parents with foreign connections came in and spoke about culture, language and food.

At the end of the day we had a lovely food tasting session and I came away with a handful of recipes. This one I have hung onto and made over and over again over the last decade. The lady who shared it originally has sadly since died from cancer but she was a warm and generous soul who loved a party and I think she'd be very pleased I was sharing it with you.

German-style hot bacon and potato salad

1 bag (750g) Asda Extra Special Jersey Royal Potatoes
5 slices of smoked bacon diced and fried (Or 200g smoked bacon lardons)
1 tbsp oil (or bacon drippings)
11/2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1tbsp wholegrain mustard
1/2 cup cider (or any white) vinegar
1/2 cup water

Wash and if necessary chop potatoes into even sized chunks. They need to be quite small so the potato is cooked through but not disintegrating. Boil potatoes until just soft.

Cook bacon, set aside. Heat oil or bacon drippings then using a wooden spoon or whisk blend in flour, sugar, salt and mustard. Gradually add vinegar and water, stirring constantly until smooth. Continue to cook over a low heat until sauce thickens. Add potatoes and bacon and stir gently coating them with the sauce.

recipe German hot potato salad with bacon using Asda's extra special Jersey Royals
You can serve immediately while hot but it's also nice when it's cooled down.

I teamed the potato salad with flat iron steak cooked quickly on a cast iron griddle. You could also BBQ it. I topped the steak with seasonal steamed and buttered asparagus.

I also made a colourful and crunchy coleslaw made using Asda's very useful coleslaw kit. I love this kit - all the fresh vegetables are ready sliced in a bag and there's even a sachet of creamy dressing enclosed although I did add 2tbsps low cal mayo and 2 tbsp salad cream as we like our coleslaw extra creamy.

I prefer coleslaw made like this to the ready made pots and I think the colours look awesome on the plate.

I felt very happy knowing my family had enjoyed healthy food which took very little time to prepare and cook. Good news for me when I'm trying to squeeze in dinner in between school, clubs and my own commitments.

Asda's Extra Special Jersey Royals are as cheap as a bag of frozen chips and much healthier and tastier so Id recommend making the most of them while they are in season.

Disclaimer: This post is an entry for the Jersey Royal Blogger Challenge. I was sent a voucher to spend in Asda for the purpose of buying ingredients for these recipes. Views and opinions remain honest and my own.

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