The Frugal Chariot

“The Frugal Chariot is a bold, brave, and bracing book that explores regions of readership far beyond the ivory tower. Its careful and thoughtful explorations bring together a wide array of responses to Hopkins’s poetry, ranging from common readers to inspired artists and everything in between. Francis Fennell has opened new paths for literary studies which are pragmatic, democratic, and powerful. A welcome, timely book that should be read widely within academia—and far beyond.”


—Stephen Tardif, assistant professor of Christianity and culture, St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto





“The Frugal Chariot is the record of Francis Fennell’s exciting quest to understand how non-academic readers have read, understood, and thrived on Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poetry as they created a community of sympathetic and perceptive readers, composers, and artists. Fennell’s goal to give ‘voice to the voiceless’ reveals his respect for ordinary and non-professional readers. Fennell has created a new and multifaceted approach to Hopkins of very great value.”


—Tom Zaniello, professor emeritus of English, Northern Kentucky University





“In this well-constructed analysis of Gerald Manley Hopkins’s poetry, the complexity of the poet’s language is beautifully conveyed to us as sustenance to feed the mind, a celestial mystery to satisfy the soul, and a love of wondrous ambiguity that causes the heart to yearn for more.”


—Terry Boyle, author of This Will Be





“The fruit of decades of careful study, this wise and timely book amplifies the voices of composers, painters, and sculptors (and even one executive chef!) for whom Hopkins’s poetry remains a deeply personal matter. The result is more than a collection of new insights about a beloved poet; it is a paradigm-shifting post-critical reading. This is a seasoned scholar’s bold challenge to his discipline, and it will be a balm to anyone who loves poetry and has lamented the life-sapping ways it is so often taught and studied.”


—Brett Beasley, writer and term assistant teaching professor, University of Notre Dame