Pied Beauty

Celebrating All Things Gloriously Unique

Glory be to God for dappled things –
   For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
      For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
   Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
      And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
   Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
      With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
                        Praise him.

This might be showing my age, but one of my favourite TV shows growing up was All Creatures Great and Small. It was based on the popular series of books by James Herriot (the pen name of James Wight), which I eagerly devoured as well. These books painted such a rich picture of Herriot’s life as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales, and his charming, easygoing writing invited me in. I fell in love with the quirky, loveable characters, the animals, and the rugged beauty of the Dales. His stories were such a delightful mix of tough, kind, funny, difficult, and heartwarming moments. Years later, I found myself feeling the same way about All Teachers Great and Small by Andy Seed.

Interestingly, the titles of Herriot’s early books were inspired by the lyrics of a famous hymn: All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Wise and Wonderful, and The Lord God Made Them All. Those words always remind me of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem Pied Beauty. Hopkins’ writing is wonderfully vivid and has such a glorious cadence to it.

At the heart of Pied Beauty is the idea that even the odd, imperfect, and colourful parts of nature (and people) glorify God and Hopkins doesn’t just describe them—he celebrates them. His list of these things creates a series of vivid images, each one highlighting the beauty of uniqueness. Then, in the second-to-last line, Hopkins presents this striking contrast: though God’s creation is full of variety, He Himself remains constant. I find that thought rather wonderful.

(You can find a fantastic summary of the poem here.)

I have composed a piano piece in response to Hopkin’s poem with the same title which is below:

In order to evoke the essence of the slightly odd, quirky, dappled, and pied aspects of the poem, I've employed two creative devices. The first device I've used is a slightly off-kilter rhythm within the 6/8 time signature. The second one is incorporating a flattened 6th chord, a technique often found in film music. However, most importantly, I’ve striven to infuse beauty, particularly in the development of the melody. I hope you enjoy it :)