Margaret “Spring and Fall: To a Young Girl”
The image of Margaret grieving among the falling leaves of Goldenrule is a metaphor for the poet’s elegiac analysis of death. The imagery is as metaphorical as the girl. Margaret is not based on any historical personage, but exists as a symbolic channel for the poem’s thematic exploration of mortality.
"Felix Randal"
The title character of this sonnet was a young blacksmith who actually lived and the poem is based on an actual historical event. The real blacksmith was actually named Felix Spenser and while he was in the dying throes of tuberculosis he was ministered by the author while Hopkins was a priest for St. Francis Xavier. The poem represents one of just a very few works of verse directly autobiographical in nature.
“Duns Scotus's Oxford”
John Duns is Scottish philosopher more commonly referred to as Duns Scotus. In this poem, Hopkins alludes to him “who of all men most sways my spirits to peace.”
Tom “Tom’s Garland”
Tom in this case is caught between the pure metaphor of Margaret and the symbolic reality of Felix Randal. Dedicated to the poor and unemployed whom Hopkins would also have ministered in his role as priest, the poem is an exploration of the cycle of economic inequality that as much as predetermines poverty. Tom is thus a metaphor, but one based on harsh reality. To give an idea of what Tom represents as a character, the poem might also have been titled “Dick” or “Harry.”
"Harry Ploughman"
However, Hopkins reserved the use of Harry from that particular synonymous phrase indicating anonymity for a similar poem written around the same time. “Harry Ploughman” is related to his friend Tom by virtue of also being a metaphor. Tom is the symbolic representation of the effect of economic deprivation upon the urban worker created during the Industrial Revolution, while Harry—as his name indicates—is a symbol of the agricultural worker.
